On 25 June, César Cernuda, President of Microsoft Asia-Pacific, received an award distinguishing him as one of the top 100 Spaniards in the world from His Excellency Federico Palomera Guez, the Ambassador to Spain in Singapore. The 100 Spaniards (100 Españoles) award is given to recognize Spaniards overseas who have shown exemplary successes in their respective professions. The project is supported by Brand Spain (Marca España) through the High Commissioner of the Government for Brand Spain and his office.
The honorees were shortlisted from a list of 250 nominations by an advisory council after extensive research was conducted on their achievements and contributions. The advisory council is made up of professionals from various fields and sectors, including the Executive Chairman of Telefónica, the President of the Eduardo Barreiros Foundation, the Director of the National Center for Oncology Research, the President of Santander Bank, the Executive President of Repsol, the President of Coca Cola Iberia, the High Commissioner to the Government for the Spain Brand, the Managing Director of Abertis, and President of IAG.
The top 100 honorees awarded this year include Spaniards from a variety of professions, including businessmen, entrepreneurs, researchers, biologists, aid workers, missionaries, musicians, journalists, chefs, architects, lawyers, and designers.
The award winners are recognized for their professional success, their strong ties to Spain, their efforts to spread knowledge of the Spanish culture outside of the country, and their commitment towards helping Spaniards living overseas integrate into local communities and the larger society.
As President of Microsoft Asia Pacific, César leads Microsoft’s commercial and consumer products, service and support offerings across one of the world’s most dynamic growth regions. His remit spans 12 subsidiaries in 39 territories and countries which include 7,002 employees and over 100,000 partners. The Asia Pacific region has witnessed dynamic growth in recent years fuelled by the region’s aggressive consumption of cloud, mobile, big data, and social technologies.
Born in Madrid and married with a son and daughter, César holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Marketing from ESIC University in Spain, and an MBA from IESE Business School at the University of Navarra in Spain. He also completed the ‘Leadership for Senior Executives’ program offered by Harvard’s Business School.
César is an honorary member of Future Cities Delevopment Inc., an organization focused on advancing humanity by building cities based on innovative forms of governance. He was named the “Asturian of the Month” by La Nueva España (an independent newspaper in Asturias) in 2010 and was recognized as the Best Executive of the Year in 2011 by Emprendedores Magazine in Spain. César is also an Honorary Patron of Plataforma Solidaria de Asturias, a foundation focused on helping and supporting education and attending to the most basic needs for a group of children in Bolivia.
César Cernuda’s full bio is available here.
