Maryam Alavi, PhD, Dean, Stephen P. Zelnak Jr. Chair, Professor of Information Technology Management, Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business

Tues 9/30, 9am – 10am EST
Forum: Supporting 21st Century Competencies

Maryam Alavi, PhD, joined Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business as Dean in July 2014. She also holds the Stephen P. Zelnak Jr. Chair.

As an expert in IT innovations and strategic applications, Alavi has authored numerous published papers and has served on the editorial boards of several prestigious academic journals. She is a thought leader on technology-mediated learning and an experienced educator who has extensive experience in developing leadership curriculum for business students.

Alavi is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences. She has consulted with organizations including AT&T, KPMG, IBM, Marriott Corporation, Sodexo, the American College of Physicians, the Aspen Institute, the General Accounting Office, International Association for Management Education, and the World Bank. Her international work experience includes teaching graduate and executive development programs in Europe, North Africa, and Asia.

Prior to joining Georgia Tech, she served as interim dean and vice dean of Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, where she held the John & Lucy Cook Chair in Information Strategy.

Alavi was awarded the distinguished Marvin Bower Faculty Fellowship at Harvard Business School and received the prestigious AIS (Association of Information Systems) Fellows Award. AIS Fellows are elected by a committee of peers and are expected to be role models and an inspiration to colleagues and students within the discipline.

She served two terms as a board member of the Georgia Technology Authority appointed by the Governor of the State of Georgia.

Back to VIP Guests

Ananth Rao, PhD, Chief Academic Officer, Professor, University of Dubai

Wed 10/1, 5pm – 6pm EST
Forum: Producing Research with Impact

Dr. Ananth Rao is a Professor of Finance & Banking and Chief Academic Officer (CAO) at University of Dubai (UD). Dr. Rao obtained his PhD in Applied Economics-Banking from University of Minnesota (USA) in 1991, and MS in the same subject from Purdue University (USA) in 1985.

Prior to joining academics in 1997, Dr. Rao served State Bank of India – a premiere commercial bank in India in various Managerial roles for 15 + years. He passed the coveted Chartered Financial Analysts (CFA) Level 1 examination in June 2000 conducted by the CFA Institute (formerly Association of Investment & Management Research – AIMR) USA. He is an active professional member of Financial Management Association (FMA) International – USA and Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) – USA.

As CAO, he is involved in monitoring and controlling performance of all academic units at UD. Dr. Rao is an active researcher in the areas of Enterprise Risk Management, Investments, Bank Management, ALM, Corporate Finance, Stability of Emerging Financial Markets, Derivatives, and Efficiency of Financial Services Firms. He has more than twenty research publications in refereed international financial journals. Dr. Rao is currently teaching Risk Management, Investments & Portfolio Management, and Strategic Management to MBA students. He was instrumental in earning and maintaining AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) international accreditation to UD business school.

Back to VIP Guests

Ulrich Hommel PhD, Director of Research & Surveys, Senior Advisor in the Quality Services Department, EFMD

Wed 10/1, 9am – 10am EST
Forum: Producing Research with Impact

Ulrich Hommel is Full Professor of Finance in the Department of Finance & Accounting at EBS Business School. He heads the Endowed Chair of Corporate Finance & Higher Education Finance and is the Director of the Strategic Finance Institute. Ulrich Hommel holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and has been awarded his Habilitation in Business Administration at the WHU, Germany. His current research focuses on corporate risk management as well as higher education management and financing.

Before joining EBS, he was an Assistant Professor of Finance at the WHU from 1994 to 1999. Ulrich Hommel has been Dean from 2000 to 2002 and has subsequently held the position of Rector and Managing Director from 2003 to 2006 of the European Business School (predecessor of EBS Business School). In the past, he has held visiting appointments at Stockholm Business School (Stockholm University), Stephen M. Ross School of Business (University of Michigan), Krannert Questrom School of Business (Purdue University) and Bordeaux Business School.

Next to his academic work, Ulrich Hommel is the Director of Research & Surveys at the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) in Brussels. He is also a Senior Advisor in the Quality Services Department of EFMD and, in that role, a member of the management team for the EQUIS and EPAS accreditation systems.

Back to VIP Guests

Johan Roos, PhD, Dean, CEO and Managing Director, Jönköping International Business School (JIBS)

Thurs 10/2, 11am – 12pm EST
Forum: Producing Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Johan Roos is Dean and Managing Director of Jönköping International Business School (JIBS) in Sweden since January 2012.

He holds a PhD in International Business from the Stockholm School of Economics, from 1989. He has held faculty positions at Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, at the Norwegian Questrom School of Business (BI) in Oslo, and for more than five years at the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne.

He was the co-founder and Managing Director of Imagination Lab Foundation in Switzerland before returning to the business school world. After holding the Bo Rydin and SCA Professorship of Strategy and serving as Dean of MBA Programs at Stockholm School of Economics, he served as President of Copenhagen Business School 2009-2011.

Over the last 25 years his research have focused on strategic and leadership processes in alliance formation, knowledge management and strategy. He is the author or co-author of some 80 articles, book chapters and books as well as of some 65 case studies, papers and articles for practitioners. He has published in many prestigious journals, is a regular contributor to international academic conferences and he serves as a peer-reviewer for premier scholarly journals.

Johan Roos is Professor of Business Administration with a special focus on Strategy at JIBS.

Back to VIP Guests

Robert A. Brown, PhD, President, Boston University

Wed 10/1, 2pm – 3pm EST
Forum: Producing Research with Impact

Dr. Robert A. Brown, a distinguished chemical engineer, has served as president of Boston University since 2005. During his tenure, Boston University produced and has begun executing its first strategic plan, Choosing to be Great, which focuses on strengthening the quality of undergraduate and graduate programs, attracting world-class faculty members, and facilitating their research and scholarship. Significant progress has been made toward these goals, as evidenced by enhanced quality of the incoming undergraduate class, increased ranking of the University and, in 2012, the University being invited to join the Association of American Universities, which includes the 62 leading research universities in the United States and Canada. Also in 2012, the University launched its first comprehensive fundraising campaign to raise $1 billion by 2017; to date, the University has raised over $700 million. The campaign already has led to important new academic initiatives including the Kilachand Honors College, a unique discovery-based approach to fulfilling the general education requirement for our most talented undergraduate students, and the Pardee School for Global Studies within the College of Arts and Sciences.

He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Brown also is a director of the DuPont Company, a trustee of the Universities Research Association, a director of the American Council on Education, and has served on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology for President George W. Bush. He also serves as chairman of the Academic Research Council of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Singapore, is a member of Singapore’s Research Innovation and Enterprise Council, and is a trustee of The King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC).

Before coming to Boston University, Dr. Brown held a number of leadership positions at MIT, including provost, dean of the School of Engineering, and head of the Department of Chemical Engineering. He has published more than 250 papers in areas related to mathematical modeling of transport phenomena in materials, and he served as executive editor of the Journal of Chemical Engineering Science from 1991 to 2004. He was named an honorary citizen of the Republic of Singapore in 2005 and in 2008, was honored as one of the top 100 Chemical Engineers of the Modern Era by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

He earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in chemical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota. He and his wife Beverly have two grown sons.

See other Boston University VIPs: Ken FreemanJames Post, Michael Salinger, N. Venkatraman

Back to VIP Guests