Kompernolle Teo

Theo Compernolle (Compernolle Theo) is a Doctor of Medicine, PhD, and an adjunct professor at the European Leadership Development Centre at the Centre for Business Education (CeDEP, France).

Theo leads executive education programs at several business schools, including INSEAD in France and TIAS in the Netherlands. He also advises and trains executives and staff at educational institutions and multinational corporations and professional services firms. He speaks English, Dutch, and French.

Compernolle has served as head of the Chair of Leadership and Personal Development at the Solvay Business School (Switzerland), adjunct professor at INSEAD, France, and professor at the Free University of Amsterdam, and has also lectured as a visiting professor at several business schools.

As a physician, neuropsychiatrist, and business consultant, Theo studies research findings in such diverse fields as medicine, biology, psychology, neuroscience, physiology, and management. He then brings this information together into a coherent whole and presents it to others in a clear and memorable form. According to his clients, Theo makes science “simple and useful.”

He entered the business world after his dissertation on stress was published and caused quite a stir in the media.

Since then, he has become an expert on the emotional and personal aspects of leadership, as well as on the challenges of building resilience in the business environment for executives, management teams, organizations, and families—especially during periods of conflict, stress, and change.

Dr. Compernolle has published several popular science books and more than one hundred scholarly articles. Three of his books, including Stress: Friend and Foe. Managing Stress at Work and at Home, remain bestsellers to this day.

At different stages of his career, he headed inpatient and outpatient departments in a number of clinics.

At the University of Amsterdam (the Netherlands), Theo earned a scientific degree for his research into the nature of stress. He is a certified psychotherapist and a specialist in neuropsychiatry and psychotherapy. He pursued postgraduate studies at the Universities of Amsterdam and Leiden (the Netherlands) and the University of Pennsylvania (USA), and received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium).