Join us in Porto for the
QS Higher Ed Summit: Europe 2025!

Simon Harris TD is the Minister for Further & Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science & Justice. He previously served as Minister for Health from May 2016 to June 2020, and as Minister of State at the Departments of Finance PER and Taoiseach with Special Responsibility for the OPW, Public Procurement, and International Banking (incl IFSC) from 2014 to 2016.

Simon’s involvement in politics began after he established an Autism support and lobby group in County Wicklow to seek to give a voice to people living with Autism and their families and to articulate their concerns and needs. He works tirelessly as a disability advocate and through his work in the disability area he has first-hand meaningful understanding of issues affecting people with disabilities.

Ambassador Akhilesh Mishra arrived in Dublin on 06 October 2021. Ambassador Mishra is a career Diplomat. He belongs to the Indian Foreign Service and has over three decades of of rich experience in the entire gamut of Indian diplomacy, covering political, security and geo-strategic affairs; economic &
commercial, investment & technology issues; education, research & innovation; cultural & soft power engagements; Indian Diaspora and India’s development
partnership with other countries.

Before joining the Embassy in Dublin, Ambassador Mishra was deployed in the Ministry of External Affairs as Officer on Special Duty (Political) from July-October 2021 and Head of Development Partnership Administration (dealing with India’s official development assistance and dialogue on international development issues) from Feb 2020-July 2021. Earlier, he was Director General of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), New Delhi, from February 2019 – February
2020.

His previous assignments as the Head of Mission/Post/Division include: Ambassador of India to Maldives (2016-19) and Consul General of India in Toronto, Canada (2013-16); Joint Secretary/Head of Division in the Ministry of External Affairs dealing with India’s relations with Nepal and Bhutan (2011-13) and Joint Secretary in charge of Multilateral Economic Relations Division (2010-11).

Ambassador Mishra’s other assignments were: Deputy Chief of Mission in Kabul, Afghanistan (2008-10); Deputy High Commissioner Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania (2005-08); Deputy Consul General in San Francisco, USA (2001-05); Deputy Secretary dealing with Bangladesh in the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi (1999-2001); and, in different capacities in Indian Embassies in Kathmandu, Nepal (1996-99); Rome, Italy (1993-96); and, Lima, Peru (1991-93).

Ambassador Mishra speaks Spanish, Italian and Nepalese and knows, among
Indian languages, Hindi and Sanskrit besides English.

Ambassador Mishra holds the degrees of Bachelor of Technology and Masters of Technology, both from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and was the topper and Gold Medalist in both, securing a record 10.0 Cumulative Grade Points Average in M. Tech.

He belongs to Varanasi, one of the holiest, most ancient historical and cultural, living cities of India.

Besides international affairs, Ambassador Mishra has keen interest in Indian culture, specially Sanskrit Vedic & classical literature, Hindi & Urdu poetry, spirituality, yoga and meditation.

Ambassador Mishra is married to Mrs Reeti Mishra, and has two children. A Spanish and Italian speaker, Mrs Mishra has been actively involved in cultural, social and charity initiatives as part of diplomatic/consular spouses groups abroad. She is a motivational speaker, yoga enthusiast and proponent of Indian handicrafts/textiles, traditional arts and poetry.

Gary Gannon is the Social Democrats TD for Dublin Central – winning his seat in the 2020 General Election where he has been particularly vocal on Leaving Cert reform.

In 2014 Gary was elected to Dublin City Council representing the North Inner City local electoral area before joining the Social Democrats in 2015.

Gary was one of five General Election candidates put forward by the party in 2016 and also contested the European Parliament elections in 2019.

With over 20 years of experience leading one of East Asia’s most successful education agencies focused on international student recruitment to 120 UK higher ed and 400 K12 independent school partners, Susan Fang is THE go-to champion of British education, bridging the information gap between the East and the West. After joining NLCS and the University of Cambridge as an international student, she became inspired to empower scholars from around the world to receive a world-class education in the UK. When not parenting her two teenage daughters and advocating for British education, she enjoys running marathons in the great outdoors.

Dr. Conor O’Carroll is founder and director of SciPol Services Ltd. As an independent consultant on Research and Higher Education policy and funding, he focuses on researchers’ career development with special attention to doctoral education and career assessment. He has led European policy initiatives on Open Science and doctoral training (he led the development of the European Innovative Doctoral Training Principles). He is an active researcher on national and European Research Policy, R&D, Higher Education and Researcher Mobility policy and is an accomplished commentator on R&D and higher education policy and funding. In his recent book “Towards a Global Value System in Doctoral Education” he and colleagues reflect on the future of doctoral education.

Olivia McEvoy is an inspirational thought leader and change-maker who consciously creates inclusive, diverse, equitable and accessible (IDEA) cultures and experiences where people are empowered to contribute and achieve their full potential. She is an advocate of data-driven transformation that embeds IDEA into systems, structures and cultures to achieve impactful, meaningful and sustainable change. She believes that should be delivered through authentic leadership, inclusive relationships and partnerships, personalised solutions and innovation.

She is Global Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Booking.com whose mission is to ‘make it easier for everyone to experience the world’ and a voluntary advocate in the LGBTQ+ community in Ireland including as former Chair of the Board of Directors of the National LGBT Federation and during her long-term involvement in the campaign to secure civil marriage equality in Ireland.

Olivia holds a M.Sc. in Interactive Digital Media and B.A. (Hons.) in Sociology and Philosophy from Trinity College Dublin. She is also an LBCAI-accredited lifecoach and a United World College scholar.

Jan Palmowski is Professor of Modern History, with an interest in German political and cultural history since the nineteenth century. Raised in Germany, he studied at the University of York and completed his doctorate at the University of Oxford. He became a Lecturer in European Studies at King’s College London and was appointed Professor of Modern and Contemporary History there in 2009, before moving to the University of Warwick in 2013. In 2001 he won a major research grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Board for a project on ‘Constituting the German Nation: The Construction of National Identity through Theory and Practice, 1898-1998), and in 2007 he won a King’s College London Teaching Award. He served as Head of Arts and Humanities at King’s College London (2008-12), and Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Academic Vice President at the University of Warwick (2013-18). He is currently on secondment from Warwick as Secretary-General of the Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities, though he continues to teach PhD students.

Chiara Finocchietti is Director of CIMEA – NARIC Italia. Geographer, she comes from the world of research and is an expert in the evaluation of qualifications and higher education systems. Author of various publications on the subject of credential evaluation, she coordinates numerous international projects on the above topics and is a member of various international working groups on higher education policies. She has been appointed a member of the Working Group on Higher Education of the Council of Europe Steering Committee for Education (CDEDU Working Group on Higher Education), and is an expert of the ETINED Platform (Council of Europe Platform on Ethics, Transparency and Integrity in Education). She is Vice-president of the ENIC Bureau and National Correspondent for the Italian Qualifications Framework within the EHEA.

José M. Martínez-Sierra is the Director General of the UPF Barcelona School of Management. He is Jean Monnet ad personam Professor for the Study of European Union Law and Government. Between 2012 and 2021, he performed different teaching, research and administrative roles at Harvard University, working at Harvard College, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Harvard Business School, the Harvard Kennedy School, and the Harvard Law School. Faculty Affiliate at the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Faculty Associate at the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Faculty Associate at the Center for American Political Studies, and EU Law Coordinator at the Harvard Law School – Institute for Global Law and Policy.

Before joining Harvard University, he was an advisor to several Ministers responsible for Education and Universities. He served as General Director for International Relations at the Spanish Ministry of Education and General Director of the Agency for the Internationalization of Spanish Universities. Former President of the European Union High Level Group on Education and Training Policies and the EU Education Committee, a member of the OCDE Education Policy Committee and former president of the Bologna Follow-up Group. Representative for Higher Education at UNESCO and senior member of the Fulbright Commission.

Sophie is the Vice President for the IBM Digital Sales Centers in Dublin, Bratislava and Cairo. In her role, Sophie is responsible for leading a team of Sellers across EMEA region.

Sophie is an experienced IBM executive with strong leadership skills in Sales and Marketing. She is passionate about people and employee engagement and has led large teams through complex transformations and cultural changes across multiple geographies and Businesses.

Prior to her appointment as VP for Digital Sales in Dublin in January 2022, Sophie was Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of IBM Middle East and Africa (MEA) for 2 years operating from Dubai and prior to that she was the CMO for IBM in France. Sophie also served in Services for 10 years and was the Technical Sales Support Leader for France for 5 years.

Rachel was nominated Global Director of Communications at INSEAD in October 2022 and leads Strategic Communications for both internal and external audiences, developing and delivering a robust communications strategy to grow INSEAD’s reputation as “The Business School for the World”. Rachel joined INSEAD in 2019 as Global Director of Marketing and Recruitment of degree programmes driving positioning, awareness and successful recruitment of talented students and executives.

Rachel began her professional life in tech, driving sales and marketing across Southern Europe for the software company Macromedia (now Adobe). She joined the higher education sector in 2005 and has built her career in prestigious business and engineering schools starting at ESCP, where she led the rebranding of the business school and developed the marketing and student recruitment team across Europe as the Director of Marketing and Business Development. Rachel then went on to become Vice President for Marketing and International Relations at École Polytechnique where she supported the president to define the global international development strategy with a strong focus on strategic partnerships.

Rachel’s passion for higher education, marketing and communications have been key drivers in her career path and she thrives in a dynamic and truly international environment. She enjoys building team environments, which empower autonomy, collaboration and creativity.

Outside of work, Rachel is a keen amateur Flautist, a lover of fiction and travel, increasingly in its slow form.

After graduating from Salford University, Manchester in 2001: BA hons in French, Spanish and International Relations, Rachel completed a post-graduate degree in Marketing and Management at the Chartered Institute of Marketing in London.

Nunzio took his MBA at The Wharton School in the USA, where he won the Glockner Prize for Management, after gaining an MA at the University of Cambridge in the UK. At Wharton, Nunzio also led the team that won the Moot Corp Business Venture Award in 1990, in competition with teams from the top US and European business schools. Before starting his own business Nunzio worked in strategy consulting for Mercer Management Consulting and Bain & Company, in the UK and Italy.

Nunzio is responsible for the annual QS TopMBA.com Applicant and Recruiter Research, producing several reports including the annual ‘QS Global 200 Business Schools: The Employers’ Choice’. He is also research director for the annual QS World University Rankings® and is recognized as an authority on the strengths, weaknesses and specializations of business schools and universities around the world.

A respected journalist on management education and careers, Nunzio has written regularly for many leading newspapers including The Times of London for the past 15 years.

Committed to QS setting an example in socially responsible leadership, Nunzio has given this reality by establishing the charitable foundation, QS Education Trust, which provides scholarships for higher education to young people who have demonstrated socially responsible leadership.

Bolanle Tajudeen, founder of Black Blossoms, is a respected educator and art curator dedicated to showcasing contemporary artists of color. Since 2015, she has curated numerous public and gallery exhibitions, connecting these talented artists with diverse global audiences. In 2020, she launched the Black Blossoms School of Art and Culture and Journal, an innovative initiative documenting marginalized artists’ histories and creative practices. As an alternative art school, it offers courses on topics like Black British Art, Art and Revolutionary China, and Curating Black Art. Bolanle also teaches “Art in the Age of Black Girl Magic,” exploring the practices of Black women and non-binary artists. Black Blossoms collaborates with esteemed institutions such as Tate and the Photographer’s Gallery, aiming to ensure recognition and remembrance of Black and artists of color in the public consciousness and art market. Bolanle’s commitment to uplifting these artists has earned her a well-deserved reputation as a trailblazing leader. Through Black Blossoms, she continues to inspire and empower students and artists, driving social change in higher education and the art world for a more equitable and inclusive future.

Brendan O’Malley has been a journalist for more than four decades, focusing on education, development and international politics. He has been editor of University World News for eight years and has dedicated a section of that publication to coverage of higher education’s contribution to the SDGs. As a consultant for UNESCO and the Coalition to Protect Education from Attack and other INGOs, he has led global research on violent political and military attacks on education, and measures to protect education from attack, and written extensively about the impact of conflict on education and the role of education in development. He was shortlisted for the 1999 Orwell Prize for co-writing an investigative book on the impact of foreign military and intelligence interests on the Cyprus problem.

Solenn Daudu graduated as an Engineer in Urban Planning in 2013 and completed her education with degrees in International Relations for Asia-Pacific, in Commerce and Management and in Communication Tools for Smart Cities. After working on a French Smart City project, she cumulated a few years’ experience in international relations as she was Director of International Relations and European Projects in a French Graduate School of Engineering. She now owns her company Vanillea International and aims to support the international development of higher education at large. She achieves this through partnership development, student recruitment and support, European cooperation projects and teaching among others. The projects she coordinates address topics such as entrepreneurship, education, STEM, soft skills, digital skills, sustainable development & urbanism. Her targeted areas are Europe, Asia and Africa.

As CEO of the Global Business School Network (GBSN) since 2019, Dan has been stewarding efforts to improve access to quality, locally relevant management education for the developing world. With his leadership, the Washington, DC-based non-profit has more than doubled its membership, expanded its global footprint, and initiated a series of innovative programs designed to engage students, faculty, and leaders in building more inclusive and sustainable communities. Dan also serves on advisory boards for several education startups and technology initiatives globally, as well as business schools in Brazil, Rwanda, Peru, India, Thailand, and Finland.

Prior to GBSN, Dan helped transform AACSB from a US accrediting body to a global thought leader and internationally respected quality assurance agency. He led AACSB’s strategic development, directed major advocacy and awareness investments, led the global expansion of its professional development portfolio, and is credited with starting the organization’s knowledge services. He also shepharded a three-year process to reconstruct accreditation standards on a platform of engagement, innovation, and impact.

Dan was officially recognized by the UN for pioneering efforts in the formation of its Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME). He was founding member and now is a Fellow of the Responsible Research in Business and Management (RRBM) initiative. Dan also played the lead role in creating a think-tank joint venture between the EFMD and AACSB and, throughout his career, has participated in many industry-level task forces for a wide range of organizations, including the Chartered Association of Business Schools, British Academy, Graduate Management Admission Council, Executive MBA Council, and Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program.

Before AACSB, Dan was a tenured associate professor and associate dean at The University of Tampa. He earned a PhD from the University of Florida writing on game theory.

Benjamin is CEO of RimaOne with 10 years of experience. He is the founder of the ACADEM by RimaOne solution.

He specialized in the past ten years, in process automation in many different sectors. Deriving the benefits of these experiences ,Benjamin applied those methods for higher education institutions to automatize the collection and updating of all the variable data required to assess and manage quality of Learning and Research through many different statistical reporting for all purposes, internal as well as external. (Accreditations, rankings, surveys …).
Since 2013 and the creation of ACADEM, he assists and follows the implementation of the quality and accreditation processes within higher education institutions in more than 40 countries.

His experience with more than 150 projects has given him an extensive vision of the problematic facing higher education.

He also has been involved in different projects with two of the international accreditation agencies (AACSB and EFMD).

Dr Ebun Joseph is a Diversity and Race relations consultant, Director Institute of Antiracism and Black Studies and Founder and Chairperson, African Scholars Association Ireland (AFSAI, 2018 -2022). Dr Joseph is the Coordinator and Lecturer in UCD of the first Black Studies module in Ireland. She worked as a Teaching Fellow at TCD, Career Development Consultant at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Business in the Community Ireland as Training and Employment Officer. Dr Joseph has a PhD in Equality Studies from UCD School of Social Justice; an M.Ed. in Adult Guidance and Counselling from Maynooth University; an IACP accredited diploma in Professional Counselling; and a B.Sc. in Microbiology from the University of Benin. Dr Joseph focused her PhD dissertation, titled ‘Racial Stratification in the Irish labour market’ on workforce experiences. Ebun is an author, TV panellist, Columnist, equality activist and convenor of various webinars on Anti-Racism. With a research focus on Labour markets and race relations, she has presented at several conferences, businesses and non-profits. Ebun is published and contributes regular responses on contemporary issues of racism in Ireland. Her recent book is titled, Racial stratification in Ireland: A Critical race theory of labour market inequality with Manchester University press. She also co-authored the book, Challenging Perceptions of Africa in Schools: Critical Approaches to Global Justice Education with Routledge in Jan 2020.

Srikanth has over 2 decades of work experience spanning North America and Europe. In his previous profiles, he led large multinational businesses across diverse industries like tech services and learning/talent upskilling, consistently driving revenue growth and profitability across a portfolio of 2000 global clients across North America, Europe and APAC regions. In addition, he is a passionate advocate of diversity and inclusion in the workplace and has championed various initiatives around technology-led business transformation, IT solutions, FMCG, and Skills and Training Development for driving strong brand recognition and financial growth, at large.

In his current role at upGrad, Srikanth is building and scaling our B2B proposition that upskills experienced technology professionals. With this offering, upGrad is well placed to address a significant and growing technology skills gap in the global marketplace, by delivering a world-class proposition and will be responsible for leveraging upGrad’s unparalleled width of technology curriculums, significantly large alumni community, and proven expertise of delivering tangible learning outcomes. His efforts will also be instrumental in setting up a robust ‘Diversity and Inclusion (DnI) framework to allow businesses to build a future-ready and productive workforce.

Natalia Olynec is Chief Sustainability Officer at IMD, where she focuses on executive education, strategy, governance, reporting and advisory on sustainable business transformation. She also writes award-winning teaching cases, designs pedagogical tools, and builds cross- sector partnerships. Natalia serves on the Steering Committee of the Center for Sustainable and Inclusive Business. Prior to joining IMD, she was the Global Head of Sustainability for Damco, the supply chain management unit of Maersk, where she led cross-functional teams to increase supply chain transparency, energy efficiency, and protect human rights. As a reporter and editor at Bloomberg in Eastern Europe and Asia, she published articles on international business, capital markets, and emerging economies. Natalia is also non-executive board member of Jeronimo Martins, the world’s 47th largest global retailer. She holds a Master in Public Administration from the University of Singapore and a Bachelor degree in Political Science from McGill University.

Anthony Hié is Chief Digital Officer, member of the Executive Committee at Excelia Group Previously Chief Information & Digital Officer, member of the ExCom at ESCP Business School (2018-2021), Director of Digital and IS at the Catholic University of Paris (2015-2018) Director of Organisation and Information Systems at the Department of Moselle (2012-2015), winner of the 2023 trophy for innovation and transformation through digital. CIO of the Reims Management School group and of the Reims Chamber of Commerce (2001-2012). Head of IS France for the USC Europe group, manufacturer of aerosols (1996-2001). He holds a Master’s degree in IS Audit and Design from the University of Lorraine and a Specialised Master’s degree in Information Systems Management from ESSEC Business School. He is also ITIL3/ITIL4 certified and holds a certification in digital marketing from the University of Illinois, USA. He previously held several IT positions at Aerospatiale.

Sustainable development in Stéphanie Villemagne’s view is education for all as this leads to better outcomes across society.

This being the key towards achieving all the others, the SDG she most associates her work with is quality education: This is the base for improving many if not all SDGs such as climate, sanitation or even ethnic and gender equality.

To try to have an impact in these areas, Stéphanie volunteered for ocean clean ups and education, funded schools in Africa and, in partnerships with SPLASH projects, taken business students to Zambia to learn about the access of clean water and sanitation, to understand and act on its impact towards development.

Stéphanie is inspired by the new generation of young activists like Greta or Malala, fighting for a sustainable future. She very much hopes to contribute towards a better future for them through the promotion of education for all and the introduction of more courses and more programmes on sustainability at IE.

Prof. Brian MacCraith is a Senior Advisor to the President of Arizona State University (ASU), with specific responsibility for the development of strategic initiatives (academic and corporate) in Europe. He is a Professor of Practice in the College of Global Futures and a Global Fellow at ASU’s University Design Institute. Much of his work is focused on the pivotal role that universities must play in tackling issues of planetary health.

Brian was President of Dublin City University (DCU) from 2010 to 2020, during which time DCU underwent major transformation and grew significantly in terms of scale, footprint, and reputation.

Prof. MacCraith is a distinguished physicist and is renowned internationally for his research achievements in the areas of (bio)sensor technology, photonics, and advanced materials. He is a member of the Royal Irish Academy (RIA), an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Physics, and an Honorary Fellow of Engineers Ireland.

Prof. Catherine Léglu is Vice-Rector (academic affairs) at the University of Luxembourg. She holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge in Medieval French and Occitan literature, and before 2019 she worked for 25 years in departments of Modern Languages in UK universities (QUB, Bristol and Reading). Among her past administrative roles, she was year abroad coordinator for the mandatory study abroad of undergraduate students. The University of Luxembourg has mandatory international mobility for all Bachelor’s students, and encourages mobility for Master’s and PhDs students, as well as staff.

Kelly-anne Watson is a dynamic and accomplished Managing Director at The Class Foundation, with a wealth of experience in events, politics, higher education, and real estate. Her impressive career spans over 7 years, during which she has built a strong network of influential leaders in the student housing sector and worked on a variety of impactful projects.

As a former member of the National Code, Kelly-anne implemented the first health and wellbeing clause into the UK national accreditation scheme in 2016. She has since continued to champion social value, investment, sustainability, wellbeing, community, and policy reform within university cities across Europe.

Kelly-anne’s passion for education and quality housing for students is at the core of her work. She understands that a positive and supportive living environment is crucial for students’ success and has dedicated her career to improving accesses to the sector. Her leadership and enthusiasm has been instrumental in connecting the largest network of private and public stakeholders in Europe and driving positive change in the student living sector.

Dr Nigel Healey is Professor of International Higher Education and Vice President (Global and Community Engagement) at the University of Limerick. He is currently serving as Interim Provost and Deputy President. Prior to his appointment at the University of Limerick in April 2020, he held senior academic positions at Fiji National University, Nottingham Trent University, the University of Canterbury and Manchester Metropolitan University, as well as teaching positions at the University of Leicester and Leeds Beckett University.

Dr Healey has served as an economic policy advisor to the prime minister of Belarus and the deputy minister of economy of the Russian Federation and managed a number of multinational research and economic development projects in Europe and Asia. His current research interests are in the internationalization of higher education, transnational education and higher education policy and management.

Kai Peters is Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Business & Law as well as International Development at Coventry University and a member of the Coventry University Group Leadership Team since 2017.

Previously, he was Dean/Director of Ashridge from 2003 to 2015. Following the 2015 strategic alliance of Ashridge with Hult International Business School, Peters was appointed Chief Academic Officer of the combined institution. Prior to joining Ashridge, Peters was Dean, and previously director of MBA programs, at the Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) of Erasmus University in the Netherlands, one of the first schools in Europe to achieve the accreditation triple crown.

Peters has written or co-written 10+ books and chapters and 50+ academic and practitioner articles on leadership and management education including the books Steward Leadership: A Maturational Perspective for the University of Cape Town Press in 2013 and Rethinking Business Schools for Emerald Publishing in 2018. Two of his articles were selected as the best articles in the EFMD’s Global Focus in 2021. He has been twice selected in the UK for HR magazine’s top 100 HR professionals.

Margaret Topping is Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Global Engagement at Queen’s University Belfast. She is also Professor of French and Intercultural Communication, and her current research is centred on the debates surrounding travel, migration and mobility, the ethics and aesthetics of cross-cultural communication and representation, and the public value of the arts and humanities. Her forthcoming book, The Humanities Pandemic: Towards an Essential Services Approach argues for the importance of the Humanities in tackling global challenges such as Covid.

Professor Topping also takes a lead role in a number of social innovation initiatives both within Queen’s University and in the wider community. She is Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Turnaround Project, a charity providing transitional employment opportunities for people coming out of the justice system. She is also involved with a range of projects with cross-community youth organisations in Belfast creating opportunities for young people to achieve their potential.

Frank Coton is Senior Vice Principal and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) and is a member of the Senior Management Group of the University of Glasgow. He has University level responsibility for leading the development and implementation of the University Strategy, planning, budgeting and the processes and policies associated with academic career development. He also has responsibility for oversight and leadership of the development, implementation and governance of the University strategy in relation to IT and digital technologies.

Frank previously had responsibility for educational policy and strategy and all teaching quality processes across the University of Glasgow. He also had oversight of the development of the physical and digital teaching environment. He is former Chair of the UK Russell Group Committee of Pro-Vice Chancellors for Learning and Teaching. He is also former Chair of the Student Experience Steering Group of the Universitas 21 global university network.

Emma Stokes PhD PT is a Fellow of Trinity College Dublin and was appointed to serve as the Vice President for Global Engagement in 2021. She qualified as a physiotherapist/physical therapist in 1990 and has been an educator for over 2 decades. In 2018 she moved to the Middle East to set up the academic department of Physiotherapy & Rehabilitation Science at Qatar University and led an international team who developed an innovative and future-oriented curriculum for the first program educating physical therapists in Qatar.

From 2015, she has served as the President of World Physiotherapy, working closely with the staff and board, and the wider global physiotherapy community, leading a transformation of the organisation. With a small group of committed colleagues, she was instrumental in the foundation of the Global Rehabilitation Alliance which was a precursor of the WHO World Rehabilitation Alliance. She has taught and lectured in over 40 countries in the world.

Claire is a business leader with experience in launching and growing new ventures in fast paced, high growth digital businesses backed by private investors – with a recent focus in EdTech. She has extensive commercial and operational experience across strategic partnership management, marketing, customer experience, product strategy and business strategy. A demonstrated history of delivering profitable growth, building high performing teams, and leading change to deliver improved employee and customer experience.

John manages a broad portfolio of international education research and intelligence produced across the British Council’s global insight hub network. Key outputs include market intelligence briefs, thought leadership reports and data tools that assist UK universities to recruit international students and develop transnational education partnerships. Prior to joining the British Council in 2019, John ran his own international education consultancy, and before that worked as a senior economist with the Economist Intelligence Unit in London. John has degrees in Economics from University College Dublin and the University of Galway.

Professor Helen McCarthy holds the Chair of Nanomedicine in the School of Pharmacy at Queen’s University Belfast and is the Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Academic Business Development. Helen is also the CEO of pHion Therapeutics. Helen’s research is centred on novel non-viral delivery systems for nucleic acids and anionic small molecules. These are peptide delivery systems that are purposely designed to solve key criteria for controlled intracellular delivery. Apart from supervising >40 PhD students, >150 publications, >200 conference proceedings and editorial work, Helen has contributed new knowledge as the inventor of the RALA technology and is a named inventor on 18 patents. After 10 years of academic applications of the technology, Helen spun out her technology into pHion Therapeutics, which incorporated in 2017. pHion currently employs 20 and has recently secured new premises in Catalyst innovation centre in Titanic Quarter with state-of-the-art laboratories.

Clodagh McGivern studied Corporate Law in NUI Galway (now University of Galway) and graduated in August 2021. She was elected as the Vice President – Education Officer for NUI Galway Students’ Union for the 2021/2022 academic year. After her term in Galway came to an end, she ran for the Vice President for Academic Affairs for the Union of Students in Ireland and was elected as the officer for the 2022/2023 academic year. During her term she has worked closely with students, sabbatical officers and stakeholders in higher education to represent third level students across Ireland.

Denis Guibard, started his carrier in the R&D at the French National Center for Telecommunications Studies (CNET) in the field of satellite communications before taking responsibility for designing the R&D strategy of France Télécom (the French national telecommunications operator) , later Orange. In this position, he contributed to the implementation of the operator first international laboratory in Silicon Valley.

He pursued his career at Orange, being in charge of innovation and marketing on B2B vertical markets, then becoming program manager for the design and the deployment of Orange fiber optic pan-European network, before being promoted as Vice-President Quality and Information System for Orange international networks division.

He then joined Orange mass market division as Vice-President in charge of innovation and disruptive projects such TV over IP or home automation. From 2008 to 2014, he has been Vice-President for Sustainability, Products and Services, aiming at turning sustainability into an innovation and value creation driver. In this position, he has been involved in the development of the digital economies in Africa.

He was appointed Dean of Institut Mines-Télécom Business School in December 2014 .

Denis Guibard graduated from École Polytechnique and Télécom ParisTech . He also holds an MBA degree from Sloan School of Management (MIT, Cambrige USA). He holds responsibilities in various organizations focusing on CSR and Sustainable Development, including chairman of the CSR and Sustainability Committee of the Association of French “Grandes Ecoles”(CGE) and Collège des Directeurs du Développement Durable (C3D), a leading think and do tank, gathering Sustainability Officers in more than 240 French companies, from SMEs to the largest international companies.

Professor Anne Sinnott was appointed Deputy President of DCU in July 2020, and also holds the position of Vice President for Diversity and Equality. Prior to her appointment as Deputy President, Professor Sinnott was Executive Dean of DCU Business School and a member of both the Senior Management Group and Executive of the University. She has held the roles of Deputy Dean, Director of International Development, Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning and Head of the Marketing Group during her time in DCU.

Prof Sinnott has previously worked in both market research and in education. She is an IRCA certified Internal Quality Auditor and a member of the Marketing Institute of Ireland. Since leading DCU Business School to AACSB accreditation in 2015 she has served on a number of AACSB peer review panels and as mentor to a number of International business schools. She is a member of the AACSB Continuous Review Committee and the European Advisory Panel. She is the Aurora Champion in DCU and sits on the University’s Women in Leadership Steering Group.

Her current interests include women in leadership and business education for women in Saudi Arabia.

Prof Sinnott holds a PhD and MBA from NUI, Galway and a BA and Higher Diploma in Education from University College Dublin. Recent research projects have included the marketization of higher education and the development of a customer centric approach to policing.

Colin Scott is Professor of EU Regulation and Governance at UCD where he currently serves as Vice President for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Principal of UCD College of Social Sciences and Law and Dean of Social Sciences. He has also served as Dean of Law at UCD. He previously lectured at the University of Warwick, the London School of Economics and the College of Europe, Bruges and was a Senior Research Fellow in the Regulatory Institutions Network at the Australian National University. His research addresses themes of effectiveness and accountability of regulation and challenges regulation presents to democratic governance. He has taught in the fields of regulatory governance professional regulation and consumer protection. Colin previously served as a board member of the Institute of Public Administration and was Convenor of the ECPR Standing Group on Regulatory Governance, 2016-2021. He is currently an independent member of the National Economic and Social Council and the Irish Research Council and on the Editorial Board of The Conversation UK.

Karen Tinsner-Fuchs is the Head of International Engagement & Quality Development at the University of St. Gallen. Ensuring high-quality teaching, research, and executive education is crucial to the University’s reputation. The Quality Development team is responsible for accreditations, rankings, evaluations and provides monitoring tools and information for programme management to identify areas for development. Karen holds a doctorate in higher education research from the University of Zurich and has nearly two decades of experience in quality assurance and development. Her previous positions include Head of Teaching Evaluation at the Medical School of the University of Ulm, Project Manager at the Evaluation Office of the University of Zurich and Research Assistant at the Chair of Social Psychology and Higher Education Research at ETH Zurich.

Eero Loonurm has been active in higher education internationalisation for nearly 15 years. His responsibilities in the Estonian Education and Youth Board include the development and execution of the national higher education marketing strategy for “Study in Estonia” and representing Estonia in management and strategy related working groups on the national level and European level.

He was the working group member of the national strategy “Estonia 2035” and is the Management Committee member of the COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) “European Network on International Student Mobility: Connecting Research and Practice”.

He is the marketing and communications expert in promoting Europe as a study destination for the European Commission project “Study in Europe”.

Mary Tupan-Wenno is the executive director of ECHO, Center for diversity policy in The Hague, the Netherlands. Her professional involvement in diversity and inclusion developments in higher education started at the Dutch Ministry of Education Culture and Science. Mary has more than 30 years of experience with policy and program development to improve equity of underrepresented and marginalised groups in higher education and at the labour market, with a specific focus on ethnic diversity. Mary is a founding member of the European Access Network (1991) and GAPS, Global Access to Postsecondary Education initiative (2016) and a member of the Board of EAN and GAPS.

ECHO is a non-profit organization focusing on developing new strategies, policies, and practices to improve diversity and inclusion and counter racism and other mechanisms of exclusion in higher education and the labor market. ECHO collaborates nationally and internationally with schools, universities, businesses, governments, and student- and community organizations.

Ianis G. Matsoukas holds a PhD degree from University of Warwick, and has completed his post-doctoral studies at Cornell University, ETH-Zurich, and University of Warwick. He has worked for many years as an executive and non-executive director in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry.

Ianis is currently the Executive Director of Metropolitan College Global University Hub; the largest University Hub in the South East Europe, home to key global universities, offering diverse academic and professional education programs. Prior to joining Metropolitan College of Greece, Ianis worked as Associate Professor in Medical Biotechnology, as a Head of a UK Business School, and as an Academic Executive for 5 years in the Vice Chancellor’s office of a UK University.

He has attended executive education programmes at Wharton, and Harvard Medical School, whereas his research papers have been presented in prestigious academic and professional journals, conferences and the press.

An experienced leader with a global perspective, a talent for cross-cultural and interdisciplinary team-management. An innovator with a proven track record for spotting upcoming trends and their opportunities, as well as developing strategies to exploit these trends for stakeholder growth and engagement. A natural networker who has an established media presence, industry visibility and global corporate relationships.

Steve Carter has been at the front line of international student recruitment for over 20 years working as a Global Sales and Marketing Director for several large education companies, including Study Group and Cambridge Education Group. He has extensive first-hand experience of multi-channel recruitment of students from all regions of the world.

In July 2020 he co-founded StudentApply, a global student recruitment platform focussed on recruiting international students from diverse markets for a global portfolio of highly ranked universities.

StudentApply was acquired by QS Quacquarelli Symonds in November 2021 and Steve now serves as Vice President of QS Apply. The mission remains unchanged – to recruit qualified international students from under-represented countries to add to the diversity of our partner universities.

Dr Jean van Sinderen-Law graduated from UCC with a Bachelor of Science degree and a PhD in Microbiology. In 2018 Jean was appointed as Associate Vice President/Director of European Relations and Public Affairs. Formerly she held the roles in UCC of EU Projects Officer, Research Support Officer, Director of Development and Alumni Relations, Associate Vice President/Director of Principal Gifts, each of which has been a new role created in response to changing economic/Government circumstances in which the University sector operates. Prior to her commencement on staff at University College Cork Jean held an EU funded Marie Curie post-doctoral research fellowship at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands.

As Director of European Relations and Public Affairs, Jean is responsible for establishing key partnerships for the University with the European Institutions, Universities, Governments and agencies to advance UCC’s education, research and public engagement missions. These partnerships bring new ideas and new practices to the University which cultivate work ready and world ready graduates through postgraduate research and training, staff and student mobility, investment and the delivery of excellence in teaching, cultural, sporting and social programmes. Such partnerships enable input to policy and funding opportunities in a timely and planned manner resulting in harnessing of new opportunities, not only for the University but for its partners and stakeholders nationally and internationally thus contributing to economic, social and cultural growth.

Jean served as a Governor of UCC and also was elected as a member of the Senate of the National University of Ireland. She is a founding member of the European Association of Research Managers and Administrators (EARMA) and the European Commission Marie Curie Fellowship Association. She is a Trustee of CASE Europe (Council for the Advancement and Support of Education), an organisation with a global membership of 3,500 educational institutions.

Jean has worked in a pro bono capacity for several charitable organisations including the Haven Partnership in Haiti, the Hope Foundation in Calcutta, Concern in Addis Ababa and Our Ladies Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, Dublin. She serves on the board of management of Presentation Brothers School, Cork, is a trustee of the Tomar Trust engaged in the business of philanthropy and is a non-executive director of Egerton Capital Equity Fund.

Jean was selected as the Women Mean Business (WMB) Businesswoman of the year in Ireland in 2010.

Her “otherness” is as an actress for which she has trained and has considerable experience in film, television and theatre.

Jon Foster-Pedley. Jon is dean and director of Henley Business School in Africa, part of the Henley Business School UK, a leading global business school with campuses in Europe, Asia and Africa. With Henley Africa being the first school to be accredited by The Association of Africa Business schools (AABS), Henley now holds international quadruple accreditation, AABS, AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS. Henley’s purpose is ‘We build the people who build the businesses that build Africa.’

Jon’s career includes roles as educator, dean, corporate executive, airline pilot, aerobatic competitor, writer and speaker. He has 45 years of international working experience. He has been a professor of innovation, MBA director, director of executive education, designer and director of numerous executive education programmes and lecturer in strategy, innovation and executive learning. His interests are economic and educational transformation, sustainability and business evolution.

Henley Africa has been an entrepreneurial success, with a strong reputation for progressive learning design and care for students and clients.

Jon has driven a number of initiatives such as #CorporateActivism, #NoMoreBribes, #InformedDemocracy and #FamilyFriendlyMBA. He is the founder of Henley EARTH – Environmental Activism thru Research & Training @ Henley.

Jon is chairman of the British Chamber of Business in Southern Africa, chairman of the Association of Africa Business Schools, board member of the Alliance of Management Development Associations in Rising Economies, and former vice-chair of the South African Business Schools Association. He is chair and founder of MBAid, an NPO that seeks to turn the energies of business schools to social good, which has worked with over 350 NGOs. Jon is also a Distinguished Professor at Woxsen University, India and a life Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK.

Dr Connolly was appointed as the inaugural Director for Human Rights, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the University of Limerick in March 2021. Since joining UL in 2006 Dr. Connolly has held several key roles including leading the University’s bid in achieving the prestigious Athena SWAN (AS) Bronze Institution Award in 2015, one of the first universities in Ireland to achieve the award most recently leading the institution in achieving the first Silver Athena Swan Institution Award in the Irish HEI Sector in 2023.

She represents the university on external bodies providing an authoritative voice in the development of the national agenda in the area of equality and diversity. She is the current chair of the Irish Universities Association (IUA) Vice Presidents Equality, Diversity & Inclusion forum and previously held the position of chair of the National Athena Swan Steering Committee.

Prior to joining Loughborough, Martyn has held a number of senior recruitment and marketing roles across different organisations within the HE sector including the British Council, University of Nottingham and IDP Education. More recently he was Interim Director of Marketing, Recruitment and International at Swansea University.

Martyn is a graduate of Cardiff University with a bachelor degree in English and a Masters in Strategic Marketing, further to this he holds a postgraduate qualification from the University of Manchester. He is a former Vice-Chair of the British Universities International Liaison Association (BUILA) and of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) Higher Education Special Interest Group. In addition to his work with the QS Global Advisory Committee, Martyn is also a current member of the District Cabinet UK and Ireland for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).

Shauna leads the Global Relations, Partnerships and Mobility Team, on the development of existing and new global relations, partnerships and mobilities, guiding UCD’s academic leaders in developing partnerships and supporting mobility initiatives. Shauna works in partnership with Una Watkins, Director of International Student Recruitment, to provide the vision, strategic leadership and management of UCD Global to realise the ambitions set out in UCD’s Global Engagement Strategy 2021-2024.

Chris Osman is the TOEFL Strategic Partnerships Director at ETS Global. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Studies from the University of Missouri, USA and a Global Master’s degree in International Relations from Webster University. Having participated in three study abroad programs and with over 10 years’ experience developing global admissions, marketing, and recruitment policies and strategies, Chris has obtained valuable experience in international education. In additional his passion for global learning and his background in international relations has allowed him to obtain additional knowledge in topics such as immigration, student mobility and assessing student needs.

Currently he supports organizations, higher education institutions and other valued education partners with the TOEFL® iBT test, the preferred English-language test that is accepted by more than 12,000 universities and institutions in over 180 countries.

Dr Monica Ward is the Dean of Teaching at Learning at DCU and was formerly the Assistant Head for Teaching Excellence in the School of Computing. She has extensive experience in teaching and assessment across a range of subjects from technical to transversal skills modules. She is a pioneer of the use of technology in education and she advocates a co-creation and culturally responsive approach with academics and students.

Her research interest include:
– Computer Assisted Language Learning (with a special focus on Less Commonly Taught Languages and Endangered Languages)
– Computer Science Education
– Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
– Educational Technologies
– Human Factors in Computing

M.N. Ravishankar is Professor of Technology & Globalisation, and Dean of Queen’s Management School, Queen’s University Belfast, UK. Previously, Ravi served as Associate Dean (Research) and Director of Internationalisation at Loughborough Business School, Loughborough University, UK. He has provided leadership to initiatives around building internationally competitive and inclusive research teams, accreditation, setting up international partnerships, new programme development, and student recruitment. In his research, Ravi has worked with a range of start-ups, multinational companies, and public sector organisations. He has published peer-reviewed articles on global technology sourcing, management of digital innovations, and social entrepreneurship.

Dr. Baṣak Candemir is a Director for Elsevier’s Analytical and Data Services team and prior to that she led the Analytical Services team for Europe and Emerging markets. Baṣak has extensive experience conducting research performance analyses for research leaders across the world, using combined quantitative/qualitative analyses, with a heavy focus on bibliometrics in the last years. Having worked in academic, government and corporate sectors within the world of research, she has an understanding of the needs and interactions between these sectors. Prior to joining Elsevier, she was the first Science & Innovation Officer for 2.5 years as part of the UK Science and Innovation Network, facilitating bilateral research and innovation links between the UK and Turkey. Baṣak a DPhil on Science & Technology Policies from SPRU- University of Sussex, with her thesis focusing on the role of intermediary organisations in promoting knowledge exchange between university and industry.

Bálint Markó is vice-rector for quality, competitiveness and non-traditional education, and also professor in Biology at the Babeș-Bolyai University, Romania. He oversees the UBB Goes Green programme of the UBB dealing with sustainable development policies and coordinates the STAR Institute of UBB. As vice-rector for non-traditional education he is in charge of the distance-learning programmes and of supervising and coordinating campuses outside the headquarter of UBB. Due to his engagement in implementing European policies at UBB, Markó represents his university in the board of vice-presidents of the EUTOPIA alliance and the Guild consortium. Markó supports the need for universities to interact constantly with society and by that transform institutions in a sustainable manner.

Ian Lynes, Product Director for SaaS solutions, has vast experience working with universities globally to help them to achieve their objectives in student recruitment, internationalisation, and managing global reputation. Over the past 16 years at QS, Ian has established himself as a trusted expert in delivering value to universities through software products and services.

Before joining QS, Ian honed his skills at IBM, where he managed products focused on leveraging web technology to enhance businesses. This helped him develop a keen understanding of the power of technology and data-driven strategies.

Ian’s recent work includes collaborating with universities worldwide to enable them to enhance their reputation through insight-driven communication strategies with global academic and employer contacts.

With his extensive knowledge and practical expertise, Ian inspires and guides universities to enhance their global standing and improve their international recruitment by leveraging leading software solutions, strategic communications, and international collaborations.

Jools O’Connor is Project Lead for the MicroCreds Project, based at the Irish Universities Association (IUA).

MicroCreds is a five year project which has received €12.3 million in funding through the Higher Education Authority’s Human Capital Initiative, aimed at establishing an innovative system of quality assured and accredited micro-credentials across seven IUA universities. Prior to joining the IUA, Jools worked in the education sector in a variety of roles including strategic planning, operations, marketing, stakeholder management and business development. She has worked across undergraduate, postgraduate and professional education at institutions including Imperial College London, the Royal College of Physicians London and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

Jools holds an MBA from Trinity College Dublin and Chartered Institute of Marketing qualifications.

Sue McAlinden is Deputy Director of Student Recruitment at University College Dublin. With a background in business and languages, Sue has worked in the Education sector for over 15 years. With a strong background of over 10 years’ experience in UCD Global Recruitment and a passion for engaging with prospective students, Sue now manages Student Recruitment across both Undergraduate and Graduate domestic markets.

Her work contributes to the development and implementation of strategies that help to drive continued retention rates of 94% at UCD. With a passion for communicating and fostering relationships, Sue places a huge value on meaningful and authentic strategies which help connect with students and also showcase the UCD offering & experience in an increasingly competitive environment.

Julien Malaurent is Professor of Information Systems at ESSEC, Academic Director of the Executive Master in Digital Transformation, Academic Director of ESSEC Online, and Academic Director of ESSEC Metalab. Passionate about technologies and the adoption processes that accompany them, Julien teaches multiple courses at ESSEC on the challenges of digital transformation, and more specifically on the challenges related to the adoption of systems based on artificial intelligence. He is also the author of numerous scientific articles on the sometimes perilous adoption of these technologies. Finally, he recently published a white paper, jointly with Benoit Bergeret, entitled: Getting companies on board with responsible artificial intelligence. He also led and coordinated the France part of a global study by the OECD, published in March 2023, on the impact of artificial intelligence on different organizational functions.

Selma Toohey is the Director of Europe at QS, leading a team of 9 client partnership managers who give insight, solutions and advice to Universities across Europe. Based in the UK, Selma joined QS two years ago following senior positions in international offices at Coventry University, Shorelight Education and Nottingham Trent University. Having lived in 7 countries, she has formed an expertise in HE emerging markets, driving revenue to support University expansion, transformation initiatives and growth vision. Selma studied Politics at Nottingham Trent University and an M.Phil at Trinity College Dublin.

Professor Karan Sonpar joined University College Dublin in 2009. He earned his PhD from the University of Alberta, Canada. He has held prior academic appointments at IE Business School, Spain and University of Manitoba, Canada. Karan served as Captain in the Indian Army prior to his PhD. He is a winner of an Early Career Research Award at UCD, a Professor of the Year Teaching Award at University of Manitoba, Canada and a Teaching Award at University of Alberta, Canada. He regularly delivers executive training on the topics of managing talent, strategic planning, managing change, and leadership. His research has been published in leading academic journals and has been profiled in Forbes, BBC, Irish Times, Financial Post, and Irish Independent.

Karys Davies is the Planning and Performance Manager in the Planning and Strategic Projects Unit at Swansea University. She is responsible for all aspects of university performance including monitoring and improving the University’s domestic and international league table performance as well as other institutional KPIs.

Karys has been working at Swansea University in a variety of roles since 2017, prior to this Karys worked in the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Office as a Research and Policy Officer. Karys is also a Swansea alumnus having studied a BSc (Hons) in Psychology and an MA in Applied Criminal Justice and Criminology at the University.

Luc Van Liedekerke is professor of business ethics at the University Antwerp. He was director of the Center for Economics and Ethics at the KULeuven and for many years president of the European Business Ethics Network, the largest academic network in business ethics. He publishes extensively on business ethics, CSR and financial ethics. He is board member of several academic and non-academic organisations in Belgium and abroad who are active in the field of SRI and sustainable business.

Dr Emma Francis is the MicroCreds Senior Project Officer at the Irish Universities Association.
MicroCreds is a 5-year initiative receiving €12.3m funding from the Higher Education Authority’s Human Capital Initiative. MicroCreds aims to establish an innovative system of quality-assured and accredited micro-credentials across the seven founding IUA universities. Emma has specific focus on skills gaps and enterprise engagement, leading on the development of MicroCreds Innovate, a sustainable model for university-enterprise collaboration for micro-credentials. She also coordinates the Erasmus+ MicroNet project, a transnational European peer learning network for enhancing micro-credentials development and awareness.

Andy worked at 3 UK universities in international student recruitment and partnership roles for 16 years before joining QS in 2021. His focus is on optimising the student journey on behalf of QS’s partners and believes that every student deserves personalised and premium support during their daunting admissions journey. He often posts badly-lit videos on LinkedIn where he talks about #Admissues (admissions issues) and other topical subjects facing international higher education.

Dr Gozie Offiah is a Senior Lecturer and the Director of Curriculum at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. She is also the Clinical Lead for the National Intern Training programme in the Health Service Executive, the chair of the cross-cultural group of tEACH, the International Association of Communication in Healthcare and the Non- Executive Director of the Medical Protection Society for Ireland. Dr Gozie Offiah practised medicine (with a background in Surgery) for over 15 years in the Health Service Executive (HSE). She has held several leadership roles across several organisations in Ireland and Internationally. Her teaching experience spans undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing medical education in health professions education and training. Her teaching interest includes curriculum design, delivery and faculty development. Gozie has a special interest in the role of mentoring and role modelling in the delivery of health care.

Oisín Hassan is Policy Executive for Lifelong Learning and Skills at the Irish Universities Association (IUA), advocating on behalf of eight Irish universities to government and state bodies to ensure Ireland meets its ambitions to offer diverse learning experiences in our ever-changing society and world-of-work. Oisín has responsibility across a range of policy areas, including micro credentials, recognition of prior learning, apprenticeships, as well as flexible and part-time learning.

Prior to joining the IUA, Oisín was Programme Manager of the National Student Engagement Programme (NStEP), a partnership programme of the Higher Education Authority (HEA), Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI), and the Union of Students in Ireland (USI). The programme worked to enhance and embed student engagement in decision-making across 25 higher education institutions. Oisín recently completed a term on the Icelandic Quality Board for Higher Education, and is also a voluntary member of the strategy team for the Museum of Childhood Ireland. He is a former board member of Quality and Qualifications Ireland and the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning. He was previously the Vice President for Academic Affairs for USI as well as a sabbatical officer at his alma mater in Queen’s University Belfast where he studied Law. He recently completed a Masters in Public Policy from Dublin City University.

Dr Niamh Humphries is a Senior Lecturer at the RCSI Graduate School of Healthcare Management. She holds a PhD in Sociology and has been researching health workforce issues in the Irish health system for the past 17 years. Niamh leads the HRB Emerging Investigator Award for the Hospital Doctor Retention and Motivation (HDRM) project and will shortly begin another research project focused on General Practitioner Retention. Niamh is also member of a National Taskforce on the medical workforce.

Volodymyr Sokol has more than 20 years of teaching and research experience in Ukraine, Austria and Germany. He is Postdoctoral Researcher at Rhine-Westphalia Technical University of Aachen (RWTH Aachen, Germany) and CEO of Innovation Campus (National Technical University “Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute”, Ukraine). Innovation Campus (campus.kpi.kharkov.ua/en/) is a new learning technology, and it is a winner of silver award in Europe region in Wharton-QS Reimagine Education Awards 2022.

Volodymyr holds a master degree in computer science (2001, National Technical University “Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute”), doctor of technical science (2008, University of Klagenfurt), bachelor in accounting and audit (2018, NTU “KhPI”), and Ph.D. in computer science (2016, V.N.Karazin Kharkiv National University). He has published extensively in the areas of knowledge management, learning management systems, adaptive learning approaches, and quality of the software development process.

Marine Condette is Senior Manager, Accreditation and Member Services at AACSB International. She has gained extensive experience in international higher education, having worked at Educational Testing Service (ETS), Laureate International Education and the French Embassy in the Netherlands. She is a member of EAIE’s Professional Development Committee and is currently following a DBA in Higher Education Management at the University of Bath, UK.

Mark graduated from Warwick in 2004 (MMORSE), and since then has had a varied career, taking in German customer service and international executive research before landing in higher education via the Development and Alumni office at the University of Birmingham.

Since moving into Strategic Planning, he has spent several years curating and combining datasets, building Tableau workbooks and providing reporting, analysis and insight on a range of topics. These include graduate and student surveys, research bibliometrics and league tables both domestic and international, leading to engagement with a variety of external stakeholders from statutory bodies to special interest groups, league table compilers and service providers, working with QS over a number of years.

This work enables strategic decision-making across the institution, with a particular current focus on the aspiration of the University to be amongst the global top 50 by 2030.

Dr. Maria Farkas is a Professorial Teaching Fellow at Imperial College Business School. Dr. Farkas created the AMBA & BGA award winning course Working in Diverse Organisations which all students at Imperial College Business School are required to attend. The equips each of Imperial’s graduates with a toolkit to thrive in organisations where they must collaborate with people from diverse backgrounds, with numerous areas of expertise, and with varied approaches to problem solving. Dr. Farkas also works with corporate clients to address challenges related to leadership in general, and diversity and inclusion in particular, and co-founded and runs a long-standing workshop for women academics called “Nevertheless She Persisted.”

Dr. Farkas earned a Bachelor of Arts from Wellesley College, and holds a Ph.D. in Management and Sociology from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and School of Literature, Science, and the Arts.

Jacques is a senior consultant at QSIU with a specific focus on international education, higher education performance analysis, and global engagement strategy. Since Joining QS, he has been working extensively with universities in Europe, Russia, the Middle East, and Asia–Pacific. Prior to that, Jacques was engaged with directorial positions that included the strategic orientation and governance of international academic programs and student services, as well as lecturing in International Relations at Sciences Po, Paris.

Elsa is Rankings Specialist at emlyon business school. She has extensive experience in managing national and international rankings and co-leads the CDEFM* ranking experts Committee. This committee drives discussions around business school ranking methodologies and acts as a go-between with the press, ranking professionals and French business schools.

In addition, Elsa has taken on a new role at emlyon as Head of the Data and BI initiatives, where she co-manages a portfolio of BI and data management projects, working together with her digital counterpart to deliver business value and improved student experience through the use of data.

Drew is originally from Glasgow, Scotland. He holds an MA in business, Master’s in linguistics and PhD in Psychology. He has worked in education for over 12 years and joined QS as the Rankings Manager, supporting a team of data and research specialists in our rankings research.  

An academic by training (psychology), Drew has presented at international conferences and published research on language. He lectured in the Department of Linguistics at the University of York where he was involved in course planning, teaching, advisory work and research. Missing the buzz of the private sector he took up a position as Education Manager at an educational consultancy in Shanghai, where he led a team of international educators and supported the business growth. Combining this experience in both the public and private education sectors led him to QS. When time and weather allows, he is likely to be listening to jazz whilst photographing his life and travels.

Eleni Bolou-Schlesinger is a skilled international student recruitment marketing specialist with over 13 years of experience in the higher education sector. Eleni is always quick to provide best practises and solutions connected to institutional performance, worldwide reputation and recognition, or student recruitment diversity. Eleni is uniquely qualified to provide vital insight and unflinching support to institutions striving for greatness, drawing on her broad knowledge and depth of experience.

Eleni is originally from Athens-Greece and holds an MA in Strategic Marketing and Communications from University of Greenwich. She speaks Greek, English and German and currently is living in Hamburg-Germany working closely with universities in the England, Scotland, Wales, N. Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.

Juan Carlos oversees at the global level the customer experience strategy for QS Reporting and Evaluation services. He was appointed in this role after 5 years of being QS regional director for Latin America. His vision is built upon the 20 year professional experience with universities in Latin America, Middle East, and Europe. Today he uses his advanced analytical and intercultural skills to support institutional performance improvement through an evidence-based and structured approach.

A technical Product expert with substantial experience of successfully introducing and driving end to end Product Management processes in technical organisations. Suzie is highly focused on the importance of Product communication and collaboration to ‘take stakeholders with us’ for product acceptance and success.

Dr Kirti Menon is the Senior Director of the Division for Teaching Excellence at the University of Johannesburg. She has served on several national task teams and her research focus is higher education with a focus on access, exclusion and redress. She is a Research Associate affiliated to the UJ Faculty of Education. She is widely published in the field of higher education, curriculum transformation, social exclusion and access. She has wide-ranging experience in the field of higher education and quality assurance. Her experience is multifaceted as she has experience both from a regulatory perspective as well as from the vantage point of a university. She has served on several national task teams for the Department of Higher Education and Training as well as more recently for the CHE.

In his role as Senior Research Analyst, Dr. Hellwig focuses on analyzing the research performance and trends for public agencies and academic institutes. Recent customers for projects include the European Commission, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, the Welsh Government, the Indian Department of Biotechnology and the Association of African Universities (AAU). Dr. Hellwig was part of the research team for She Fgures 2018 and She Figures 2021.

Prior to that role he worked as Customer Consultant Research Intelligence in Germany, the Netherlands, South Africa and the UK, responsible for supporting the adoption and use of SciVal, Scopus and various analytical tools and solutions for research performance and planning. Working for more than 10 years with higher education, corporate, and governmental institutions, he has a thorough knowledge of this sector in various countries.

Dr. Hellwig holds a PhD in Chemistry from Georg August University Göttingen in Germany with subsidiary subject Communication Theory and Publicism. After that he worked for almost ten years in pharmaceutical companies before he joined Elsevier in 2008.

Afifah Darke is Deputy Editor in the QS Intelligence Unit based in Singapore. Before joining QS, she was a former digital journalist at Channel NewsAsia, where she covered daily local and regional breaking news. She was also a News Assistant at CNBC Asia, working on the flagship show Squawk Box with a global team of producers and editors. Afifah has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the National University of Singapore. She can be contacted at [email protected].

Raluca joined the QS Intelligence Unit team in 2016. Since 2018, she has been focusing on the QS Stars product and has recently stepped up in the role of product manager. She is based in Bucharest, Romania and holds an undergraduate degree in Applied Modern Languages from Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in Iasi and a Masters degree from the University of Bucharest. Before joining the QS team, Raluca has worked as a consultant for an education company promoting foreign education and providing support to candidates for studying abroad.

Anton John Crace is Editor and Program Designer in the QS Intelligence Unit in Singapore. Through his role, he edits QS’ university news and rankings supplements. He has worked within international education for almost a decade including within an education provider, education agent training platform and media.

He was the Asia Pacific Editor of The PIE News, an international education media outlet, and broke stories including the decision of some universities to pay Indian agents GST and the New Zealand government’s decision to scrap a review into in-study work rights for international students. For many years he was also a familiar face on the conference circuit throughout the Asia Pacific through live tweeting – follow him on Twitter @antoncrace.

Anton was recognized as the Universities Australia Higher Education Journalist of the Year in 2019 at the National Press Club of Australia, and received the Excellence Award for Professional Commentary from the International Education Association of Australian in 2018.

Agnes Batory is a Professor of Public Policy at the Central European University in Vienna. She currently serves as Pro-Rector for Research and Faculty. She is trained in political science and international relations, and her research interests include corruption, party politics and populism, and policy implementation and compliance problems in EU governance.

Kristof Lajos specializes in the education and training of gifted and exceptionally gifted children. He is the winner of several international awards and enjoys a prestige both nationally and internationally. A former abandoned child, institutionalized in communist orphanages, the teacher aims to create a more than inclusive world in his school: full of love, compassion and empathy.

Ehab Badwi is the founder and the General Director of the Syrian Youth Assembly, a global network of young Syrians worldwide. A strong believer in the potential of youth and one of the Youth Representatives of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM).

Mr. Badwi has worked in the past seven years on youth and peacebuilding issues at the local and global level, where he served as the Regional Focal Point – the Middle East and North Africa – Humanitarian Affairs and SDG 16 Regional Focal Point (Peace & Security) for the UN Major Group for Children and Youth.

Since the beginning of his career, he has been very interested in community issues, youth issues, and youth’s fundamental role in community development. Since 2007, Ehab has joined the Scout Movement in Syria, and he believes that Scouts have the greatest credit in building his personality and interests. Also, he worked within the Red Crescent crews in Syria from the beginning of the war until 2013 in disaster management.

Mr. Badwi worked in peacebuilding with a full focus on engaging youth in peace processes and was part of the United Network of Young Peacebuilders UNOY in the European Youth Advocacy Team; he is one of the KEY Informant within the “The Missing Peace: Independent Progress Study on Youth, Peace, and Security”, He served as a youth representative at the World Humanitarian Summit at the Global Youth Consultation in Doha 2015, and the Global Consultation in Geneva and the summit in Istanbul.

From 2021-to 2022, he contributed with a group of young leaders and researchers to presenting – The We are in this Together, Operationalizing a Five-Year Strategic Action Plan. And – Implementing the Youth, Peace and Security Agenda at Country-level A Guide for Public Officials. and organizing The High-Level Global Conference on Youth-Inclusive Peace Process 19-21 January 2022.

Ehab Badwi holds a Diploma in Engineering and Degree in political science from Germany.

Erika is an Internationalization Project Manager at CTU in Prague coordinating recruitment of International degree-seeking students, on behalf of CTU she also coordinates a centralized project (consortium) Study in Prague and leads a team of students with whom she works together to improve the international environment at Prague’s public universities. Currently, Erika is hevaily involved in the Ukrainian relief at CTU, coordinating volunteers, organizing donations and more.

Ever since her study mobility abroad, it has drawn her to a university-international environment. She began her career in Turkey’s higher educations, where she was in charge from organizing professional events for universities mostly for Eurasian region to the arrival of exchange students. She graduated from Palacký University, Faculty of Science, majoring in International Development Studies.

Erika is also actively participating at professional conferences and events such EAIE, Czeducon and more.

Oleg Fetisov is an International Relations Specialist at the Public Relations Office of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU in Prague). He takes care of international relations, represents the faculty and its study programs for foreign applicants, actively participates in internationalization projects on university and interuniversity level. Since 2016, he also CTU Ambassador and deals with the topic of supporting and strengthening the community of foreign students. Since 2019, a member of the International Association for College Admission Counselling. In 2021 he joined the EuroTeQ alliance team and representing the CTU in Prague a Staff Education Programs Manager. Mr. Fetisov is actively participating at professional conferences and events such as APAIE, CZEDUCON, etc. Today he is highly involved in the Ukraine crisis relief at CTU in Prague.

Cross-cultural communication expert, International Project Coordinator at SWPS University. Graduated from SWPS University in Warsaw, specializing in clinical psychology. Her main research interests include cross-cultural relations, with particular emphasis on Arab culture and identity. Ms. Pasichnyk is highly experienced in the field of International Affairs and cross-cultural communication with a demonstrated history of living and working in different cultural contexts. Since 2013, Ms. Pasichnyk has coordinated various educational projects organized around the world.

Firmin Landré is project manager at École des Ponts ParisTech working on the Refugee Students Program which welcomes refugees and asylum seekers to teach them French language and supports them in continuing their studies in the higher education in France. He is in charge of developments and partnerships of the program and the support of students.

He graduated with a bachelor in Applied Foreign Languages and a master’s degree in International Relations with a research focus on peace, human rights and migration studies. He focused his education on studying abroad which gave him the experience of living and working in cross-cultural environments.

Firmin started his career as a project manager in the NGO “UniR Universités & Réfugié.e.s” which supports refugees and asylum seekers in the resumption of their studies in the higher education in France where he started several partnerships with the UNHCR and universities among others.

Kyryl Naumenko, Chief of the International Affairs Department of the Secretariat of Ukrainian Association of Students, a student MP of the Students’ Parliament of the Scientific and Educational Institute of Philology of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kiev, and indeed, a student of philology.

Born Jorghan von Karsten, the youngest son in a great German family, repatriated to Ukraine, Kyryl is, as befits his young noble soul, a protector of students rights, and a speaker for the upcoming European studentship emergent in Ukraine. Driven by his Roman faith, Kyryl stands is solidarity and understanding with Europe, connecting the two, seemingly separate worlds of their own, with a goal of familiarising and preparing the students of UAS for European life, firmly converted, turned away from the dark ways of the past, and into the light of fraternity that is Europe.

Main focuses of Kyryl’s volunteering at UAS count intercultural learning exchange, and the complete adaptation of Ukrainian student representation system to the European standard.

His activities count pre-war interviews with heads and representatives with a number of European National Unions of Students, and, in wartime, participation in seating of European Parliament Commision for Culture and Education ‘’Historical revisionism’’, seating of Ukrainian Group of the Council of Europe at the invitation of German Academic Exchange Service to develop strategies for higher education in emergencies, and coordinating humanitarian aid provided by European volunteers.

Anna Lottersberger is responsible for the Academic Development at RUFA – Rome University of Fine Arts and founder of LAND Education. Anna holds a Ph.D. in Design, an MA in Fashion Design and a BA in Industrial Design from Politecnico di Milano.

Anna worked with Culti and Loro Piana and cofounded the brand Il Sistema Degli Oggetti. She lectured in Italy, Lebanon, China, and Singapore, where she was the Head of the School of Fashion and Design at MDIS. She served as the Head of the Fashion Cluster at Domus Academy in Italy.

Dr. Lela Mélon, a former Marie Curie Research Fellow at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, and the 2021 Emerging Sustainability Leader Awardee (by World Sustainability Foundation), has a legal and economics background. Currently the Executive Director of the Planetary Wellbeing Institutional Framework at the Pompeu Fabra University and the academic director and a professor of the postgraduate programme Sustainability Transition Management and Climate Emergency at ESCI-UPF, she is specialized in EU law, with a main focus on corporate conduct and sustainability, on which she published the book Shareholder Primacy and Global Business (Routledge 2018). She is currently researching policy coherence for sustainability at the EU level, focusing on corporate law policies as well as the challenges of policy and legislative barriers in the existing EU business law framework for sustainable corporate conduct and sustainable outcomes. Besides being active in the academic field, she created and implemented a three-step systemic approach towards sustainability, which entailed the insertion of separate sustainable corporate law course in academic curricula and a simultaneous sustainable revision of the existing and well-established academic curricula in economics and law.

Inna Semenenko is Doctor of Economics, Professor, the Head of Department of Economics and Entrepreneurship and Head of Resource Centre for Sustainable Development at Volodymyr Dahl East Ukrainian National University (VDEUNU) (Luhansk region, Ukraine). Being twice IDP and working in the twice displaced University (in 2014 and 2022), she has an experience of community mobilization and restoration of educational and social activities of higher educational establishments. Working with various stakeholders (international organizations, businesses, local authorities, NGOs etc.) and together with a team of university teachers and students, she was able to set up various development projects for University, which became a full-fledged participant in the development of the conflict region. At present, Inna Semenenko is involved in the development of the Internationalization Strategy for the twice displaced VDEUNU.

Olena Orzhel is a senior researcher at the Institute of Higher Education with the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine; she is currently a team leader of research project on university social responsibility and community engagement. She is actively involved in the EU project targeting displaced universities from Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as other education projects on teaching and learning excellence, social and emotional learning, university leadership.
Her previous positions include monitoring manager at the Erasmus+ Office of Ukraine, associate professor at the European Integration Department, international relations officer, and teacher of English. Her publications are dedicated to social cohesion, university leadership and social responsibility, European integration and governance. She obtained a Ph.D. degree in linguistics and post-doctoral degree in public administration; as a Muskie Fellow, she took part in a professional development program at Indiana University, USA, where she specialized in public affairs.

1984 – 1989 – Master’s degree in Information and measurement technology, Automation faculty of Lviv Polytechnic Institute.
1999-2002 – Doctorant at Lviv Polytechnic National University
2003 – Candidate of science thesis “Accuracy increasing the of radiation temperature measurement for rotating objects”
2001 – 2007 – assistant professor, Department “Metrology, Standardization, Certification, Quality”, Institute of computer technology, automation and metrology, Lviv Polytechnic National University
2007 – 2013 – association professor, Department “Metrology, Standardization, Certification, Quality”, Lviv Polytechnic National University
2013 – Doctoral thesis “Scientific and technical principles of metrology of infrared radiation thermometry”
Since 2015 – Member of Academy of Metrology of Ukraine
2015-2018 – Professor of department “Metrology, standardization, certification, quality”, Lviv Polytechnic National University
2016-2018 – Head of scientific and education Centre of Metrology, Standardization, Certification and Quality
Since 2018 – Head of Centre for International Education at Lviv Polytechnic National University, Professor of department “Information and measurement technology”, Lviv Polytechnic National University

Vice-Rector, Lviv Polytechnic National University
1988-1993 – Postgraduate student of the Lviv Institute of Economics of NAS of Ukraine.
1993–2003 – Lecturer, Assistant, Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Energy and Chemical Enterprises and Marketing;
2003–2008 – Professor of the Department of Marketing and Logistics.
2004 – The academic title of professor.
2008 to 2014 – Head of the Department of Organization Management.
2007 Corresponding Member of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences.
2011 – Academician of the Academy of Economic Sciences of Ukraine.
Since 2014 – Professor of the Department of Organization Management.
2014-2019 – Vice-rector for scientific work of Lviv Polytechnic National University
Since 2019 – Vice-rector for scientific and pedagogical work and international relations of Lviv Polytechnic National University

Dr. David Claivaz is CEO of Lemania Swiss Group of Schools (LSGS) as well as Acting Dean of Business School Lausanne and holds a Ph.D from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland.

He has taught and managed at every level of multiple educational systems (primary, secondary and tertiary), both in French and English-speaking curricula. He has launched two international schools in the Lausanne area and has created various innovative education programs. He brings special focus on the integration of Information Technology in teaching and learning strategies.

His scope of research includes questions such as artistic creativity, interculturality, translation, and linguistics. He is currently developing an innovative entrepreneurial framework for school organizations, together with Dr. Dominique Bourqui of the University of Lausanne.

Raffaele Marchetti (Laurea, Rome-La Sapienza; PhD, London-LSE) is Deputy Rector for Internationalization and Professor in International Relations at the Department of Political Science and the School of Government of LUISS. His research interest concerns global politics and governance, hybrid and city diplomacy, transnational civil society, (cyber-)security and political risk, and democracy. He acts as external expert for the European Commission and other public/private institutions on issues of global governance, public policies, civil society, and security. He is member of the editorial board of The International Spectator, the Academic Advisory Board of the NATO Defense College-NDC, LabGov – the LABoratory for the GOVernance of the City as a Commons, Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA), International Institute for Social and Economic Studies (IISES), Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN), and the European Joint Doctorate GEM-STONES. He is the editor of the Routledge series Innovations in International Affairs.

Jürgen Enders is Professor at the School of Management, University of Bath. His academic interest is focused on the study of institutional change in the field of universities, and their role in society and economy. He is member of the editorial board of the book series ‘Higher Education Dynamics’ and the journal ‚Higher Education’. He has written and (co)edited 14 books and published more than 140 articles in books and journals. Elsevier and University of Stanford released data has recently named him among the top 2% of most highly cited academics in the world in the social sciences. Jürgen is member of the University of Oxford based Center for Global Higher Education funded by the UK’s Economic and Social Science Research Council. He is a Fellow of the Academia Europaea and of the German Academe of Science and Engineering, and Honorary Fellow of the Society for Research in Higher Education.

Dr Omolabake Fakunle is a Chancellor’s Fellow and Director EDI (01/08/22) at Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh. She is a member of the Tertiary Quality Framework Expert Advisory Group established by The Scottish Funding Council in 2021. Her award-winning research in internationalisation studies focuses on inclusivity in relation to individual experiences, educational policy and practice. Through the lens of inclusivity in internationalisation she critically interrogates normative conceptions of graduate employability in a global world. Omolabake is currently working on research projects exploring connections and gaps in cultural inclusivity in internationalisation and decolonisation in higher education. She disseminates her work widely via peer review journals, invited speaker at national and international conferences, blogs, and various public engagement activities.

Tatiana Fumasoli is Professor of Higher Education Studies at UCL Institute of Education, University College London, where she is the director of the UCL Centre for Higher Education Studies. Her research interests lie at the intersection of management studies, organisation theory and sociology of professions and expertise. She has led and coordinated several international projects focusing on global governance, external engagement and the academic profession. She is editor-in-chief of Higher Education Quarterly, an SRHE – Society for Research into Higher Education journal published by Wiley.

Camila Ríos Armas was born in Caracas, Venezuela. After pursuing a career in political communications in Venezuela and completing her master’s in international development at Sciences Po Paris, she got involved with multiple volunteer missions in refugee camps where she witnessed injustices that inspired her to act. As a result, Camila founded the non-profit organisation UniR Universités & Réfugié.e.s in 2018, with the goal to fight against the professional downgrading of refugees and to promote access to higher education for all. Today, she remains the director of the organisation and is also head of the Pole Americas with the Observatory for refugee camps in Paris.

Dr. Ianis G. Matsoukas holds a PhD degree from University of Warwick, and has completed his post-doctoral studies at Cornell University, ETH-Zurich, and University of Warwick.
Ianis is currently the Executive Director of Metropolitan College Global University Hub; the region’s largest university hub, home to key global education institutions, offering diverse academic and professional education programs. Prior to joining Metropolitan College of Greece, Ianis worked as Associate Professor in Biomedical Sciences, as Head of a British Business School, and as Academic Executive in the Vice Chancellor’s office of a British university for 5 years.
He has attended executive education programmes at Wharton, and Harvard Medical School, whereas his research papers have been presented in prestigious academic and professional journals, conferences and the press.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisisianis
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thisisianis

Dr. Mark Thomas is Associate Dean for International Graduate Programmes at Grenoble EM, France. He holds a PhD from Lancaster University, UK and is an alumnus of Harvard Business School. He teaches Corporate Strategy, Strategic Management and Leadership at Master, Executive Education and PhD levels. His research focuses primarily on mergers and acquisitions, strategic growth and change management. He has published more that 40 articles, book chapters and monographs. He has had visiting professorship at the University of Cambridge, UK, the University of Maryland, USA and Beihang University, China.

He has worked extensively with multinationals (including Fortune 500 & CAC 40) as well as small and medium sized companies particularly in the high tech, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, aviation, and non-profit industries. His consulting work has assisted more than 30 organizations in their strategic growth, international development, accreditation processes and expansion through mergers and acquisitions.

Head of the International Relations Office of the University of Warsaw, Poland, with 14-year experience in higher education; leader of educational projects and project teams, author of successful grant applications; engaged in strategic University of Warsaw initiatives, such as Excellence Initiative – Research University, HR Excellence in Research, European Universities Initiative and recently: development of programmes for Ukrainian students and researchers; expert of the European Commission (EACEA) and Universities Canada; background in social sciences and education, Project Management Certificate holder (University of California Berkeley Extension); fellow of the US Department of State, International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP).

Director of the Smart Learning Center, Director for Al Ain and Dubai Campuses, and Associate Professor of Special Education at Abu Dhabi University. Former Chair of the Education Department. Dr. Fteiha’s research interest is focused on the areas of special and inclusive education, his research work has been presented at a variety of local, national, and international conferences. Dr. Fteiha is a member of the editorial board and a reviewer for several international journals. Dr. Fteiha has received a number of awards throughout his professional life, such as Teaching Awards from ADU, Khalifa Award for Education, Princess Haya Award for Special Education, and Harvard Medical School Dubai Center TAMAYOZ Award for Health Care Professional.

Marin Lessenski is Program Director of the European Policies Program of the Open Society Institute – Sofia. He holds an MA in Southeast European Studies from the Central European University – Budapest and an MA in History from the University of Sofia. He has been a Freedom House Visiting Fellow with the Hudson Institute’s Center for European and Eurasian Studies and the Center of National Security Studies. He has also been a participant in the Transatlantic Young Leaders Program of the Aspen Institute – Berlin. Mr. Lessenski has previously worked for the Institute for Regional and International Studies (Bulgaria). Marin Lessenski is also an associate researcher with the European Council of Foreign Relations (ECFR).
At OSI-Sofia his responsibilities include the publishing of the Media Literacy Index, which proposеd a model for measuring the predictors of media literacy with the aim to rank societies in their potential for resilience in the face of the post-truth phenomenon.

Jody McBrien is a Professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies at the University of South Florida, teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in human rights, global migration, and globalisation. She received a New Zealand Ian Axford Fellowship in Public Policy and a Fulbright Specialist Award to conduct research and evaluations with NZ’s refugee resettlement policies and educational practices. She is currently a Council on Foreign Relations Fellow, working at the OECD with the Strength through Diversity project in Paris while on sabbatical.

McBrien has conducted research and service in numerous aspects of the refugee journey (displacement, returned, and resettled) as well as with internally displaced people (IDPs) in Ghana, Uganda, the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and Greece. Her latest book is Educational Policies and Practices of English-Speaking Refugee Resettlement Countries (Brill/Sense).

Dr Janyl Moldalieva is a Policy Officer at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Brussels, Belgium. She leads research and analysis on natural resource governance and sustainable development and fosters policy cooperation with the EU institutions. In the past ten years, she worked with international development and research organizations, where she conducted assessments, developed and managed projects on (resource) governance, and advised stakeholders on policy design and program interventions. She also served as a visiting scholar at the George Washington University and Columbia University. She published several articles in peer-reviewed journals such as the World Development, the Extractive Industries and Society, Post-Soviet Affairs, and others and contributed to the Roadmap for Improved Mine Waste Management (2018) led by UNEP, GRID-Arendal and Canadian International Resource and Development Institute, Global Resources Outlook (2019), Environmental Performance Review of Armenia (2022) led by the UN Economic Commission for Europe, and others.

Manal Stulgaitis is Education Officer leading on higher education for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) from headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark. She has over 15 years of experience in refugee protection, with expertise in durable solutions, higher education, urban protection, risk management, coordination, and humanitarian-development planning. Holding a professional degree in Law and a Master’s degree in International Law and Economic Development, she has worked in the Middle East, North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Americas. She is currently working on inclusive refugee education issues ranging from education transitions and complementary pathways to higher education in the context of fragility and development.

Maarit Jaakkola, PhD, Associate Professor, is co-director of Nordicom, a research centre for Nordic media research at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. She is also an associate professor in journalism at the Department of Journalism, Media and Communication (JMG) at the University of Gothenburg and an adjunct professor in journalism at the Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences (ITC) at Tampere University in Finland. Jaakkola’s research interests are interdisciplinary and connected to the questions of (digital) media and journalism, cultural practices, and learning. She has recently authored the book Reviewing Culture Online: Post-institutional Cultural Critique across Platforms (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) that discusses reviewing in the vernacular context of social media, and she is currently writing a book on the pedagogical potential of reviewing and vernacular criticism. Jaakkola has been working 20 years in academia, both as a teacher, journalism educator, researcher and a research communicator. Jaakkola is leading international research collaborations and conducting community development work and currently co-leading the UNESCO MILID University Network. She is also the editor-in-chief of the digital researcher platform NordMedia Network and Kulttuurintutkimus, the Finnish peer-reviewed journal in cultural studies.

Joachim Mayer is the Director of the International Center at Hochschule Worms, Germany. He has worked in the international field more than 20 years. He is also serving since a few years at the German Fulbright as surveyor for study scholarships for students at universities of applied sciences. Mr. Mayer has been appointed as ERASMUS Expert by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) from 2007-2012.

As M.B.A Mr. Mayer taught at the University of Alabama, Mobile and at the Hawaii Pacific University, Honolulu in the USA as well as the De Montfort University in the UK in the field of International Management.

He attended numerous Staff Exchanges in the frame of the ERASMUS program at different Universities in Europe.

Joachim Mayer received his Master of Business Administration from the University of West Florida in Pensacola, Florida, USA and his Diplom-Bertiebswirt (FH) degree from the Hochschule Worms, Worms, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

Mr Mayer is the honorable elected mayor of his hometown Gundersheim in Rhineland-Palatinate.

Anna McNamara is Director of Internationalisation for the Guildford School of Acting at the University of Surrey, previously having been Head of School, Director of Learning and Teaching and before that Director of Student Experience. A passionate advocate for inclusion, access and participation, Anna is invested in working with creative practitioners to develop teaching and scholarship opportunities through mentorship across drama schools and HE institutions. An award-winning teacher, she has published and presented internationally on a range of subjects including leadership and management, crisis-management, acting pedagogies, disability access to the arts, gender empowerment and equity, care in the curriculum and teaching, student experience, and change making. Anna is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) and a Principal Fellow of Advance HE (PFHEA) in recognition of her sustained record of effective strategic leadership in academic practice and academic development as a key contribution to high quality student learning.

As Director General, Jim leads the IUA as the representative voice for Ireland’s research-led universities.

Jim has extensive experience across a variety of commercial, communications and campaigning roles and provides leadership to the sector at a time of significant change and challenge.

An economist and Chartered Director, he was Project Director of The Gathering 2013, following a decade as co-founder and CEO of MyHome.ie. He has previously held a number of other senior roles including Business to Consumer Director at The Irish Times, General Secretary of Fine Gael and Chief Executive of Dublin Chamber of Commerce, having spent his early career as a journalist at RTE and a volunteer with Concern. Jim is also a Director of Sightsavers Ireland. He is a Rossie exile now living in Dublin!

Piet Van Hove is Senior Policy Advisor for Internationalisation at the University of Antwerp and currently serves as the Vice President of the European Association for International Education (EAIE), the European centre for expertise, networking and resources in the internationalisation of higher education. He holds a Master of Laws and has been active in internationalisation since 1995, working in the areas of student and staff mobility, development cooperation, services for international staff and students, international educational projects and strategic networking.
Piet has been active in the leadership of several professional associations and nonprofits at the national and international level for many years, such as Flanders Knowledge Area, the Academic Cooperation Association (ACA), the NGO APOPO (training rats to save lives) and the EAIE. He presents frequently on the different aspects of internationalisation of higher education. Piet will become the President of the EAIE in September of 2022 for a 2-year term.

David Duncan is the University’s Chief Operating Officer, University Secretary and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Operations). Prior to this, David was Registrar and Secretary at the University of York, a post he held for 8 years. Before then he was Secretary of the University of Dundee from 2001-8. David is a graduate of the University of Aberdeen and holds a Masters degree and a PhD in history from Queen’s University, Canada.

Maddalaine Ansell joined the British Council as Director Education in November 2018. Prior to this she was Chief Executive of University Alliance, a mission group representing professional and technical universities. Maddalaine previously worked for 15 years as a Civil Servant with stints in the Treasury, Number 10, the Home Office and the then Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. She began her career as a corporate lawyer, working for both Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Sullivan & Cromwell.
Maddalaine leads the Global Education Strategy and Portfolio working collaboratively with colleagues in British Council offices across the world and with HMG, the Devolved Administrations and the Higher Education Sector.

Building on her previous experience as communications officer at EUROCONTROL, Louise Drogoul is CESAER’s Advisor for Innovation & Sustainability. Louise graduated from International Relations and Politics at the University of Sheffield and has also completed postgraduate studies in European and East Asian studies at the University of Geneva and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. In her current role, Louise coordinates CESAER’s activities in innovation and sustainability, advocates at global, European, national and regional levels; represents the association externally; and serves and advises its governing bodies, committees and task forces.

Uwe Brandenburg holds a PhD from the University of Bristol, an MscEcon from the University of Swansea, and an M.A. in Islamic Sciences from the WWU Münster. He is Managing Director of the Global Impact Institute, held an Assoc.Prof. at the University Rovira I Virgili (2017-2021), and is a guest lecturer at the ESCP Berlin. Prior to that he was Managing Partner of CHE Consult as well as Director International at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Uwe has published widely on internationalization and led 3 major impact studies: the Erasmus Impact Study (EIS, 2014), the follow-up EIS Regional Analysis (EIS RA, 2016), and the European Voluntary Service Impact Study (2017). He presents on international conferences and teaches at different universities. Uwe’s research focuses on impact and Internationalisation in Higher Education for Society (IHES) and the influence of tech on internationalisation. He also gave a TEDx talk in March 2019 and is a fervent believer in change.

Mary Stiasny started her career as a secondary school teacher and then worked in Schools of Education in different universities in the UK, training secondary school teachers. She has also worked to develop international and global links and spent some time as Director of Education at the British Council. Mary has held middle and senior management roles in several universities, and she has worked on consultancy projects and research projects in the field of international learning and teaching. Before moving to her current role at the University of London Pro Vice-Chancellor (International, Teaching and Learning), Mary held a strategic role as Pro-Director with responsibility for Learning, Teaching and International at UCL’s Institute of Education.

Prof. Piotr Stepnowski is currently the Rector of the University of Gdańsk, Poland. He is a full professor of environmental science with a high focus on risk assessment of new emerging pollutants. He has also headed the Faculty of Chemistry at UG, the Gdańsk Atmospheric Monitoring Agency and was the founder and first director of the Institute for Environmental and Health Protection. He has published near 300 papers cited over 10,000 times. In addition to his scientific activities, Stepnowski is actively involved in the strategies and organization of the higher education and science system, especially in the fields of internationalization, social responsibility of science and the implementation of sustainable development goals by the academic community.

Dr Nigel Healey is Professor of International Higher Education and Vice President (Global and Community Engagement) at the University of Limerick. He is currently serving as Interim Provost and Deputy President. Prior to his appointment at the University of Limerick in April 2020, he held senior academic positions at Fiji National University, Nottingham Trent University, the University of Canterbury and Manchester Metropolitan University, as well as teaching positions at the University of Leicester and Leeds Beckett University.

Dr Healey has served as an economic policy advisor to the prime minister of Belarus and the deputy minister of economy of the Russian Federation and managed a number of multinational research and economic development projects in Europe and Asia. His current research interests are in the internationalization of higher education, transnational education and higher education policy and management.

Karen Peyronnin is the Head of Advanced Masters at École des ponts ParisTech in France.

She was previously a faculty member of Binus University International and head of the International Business undergraduate program. She was in charge of the first EPAS accreditation for Binus International Accounting Program (awarded in October 2014) and was assigned as Binus Global Director for Binus University.

She is French and graduated from ESG Paris (PGSM) with a master in international business Her previous European corporate experience in international business and supply chain management. Her research interest is in cross cultural management, process improvement and internationalization.

Fiona is also a global higher education management consultant, member of the International Advisory Board at the Universidad de Granada in Spain and of the Scientific Council of AVEPRO (Holy See’s Agency for the Evaluation and Promotion of Quality in Ecclesiastical Universities and Faculties), as well as Co-Editor of the Journal of Studies for International Education (JSIE).  She is Past President of the European Association for International Education (EAIE), and served for 6 years as member and chair of the Board of Directors for Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE), a non-profit education organisation in the United States.

She holds a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) in Higher Education Management from the University of Bath in the United Kingdom. She has written extensively on internationalisation and higher education management and has recently co-published “An illustrated guide to managing institutions of higher education”.

Paul Mullally began his career as a chemist in science laboratories and moved to working in the Higher Education field in 2007. He has been directly involved with student recruitment from a range of different countries and regions, and he has worked for several institutions over the years including two in Ireland: Griffith College and Maynooth University. He was also a former Deputy Director of Griffith International at Griffith University in Australia. Over the last 7 years, Paul has been an international education consultant and has worked with universities in Ireland, UK, US, Australia, and NZ to help with their internationalisation strategies. Paul and his team have contributed to the development of international education over the years by writing internationalisation strategies and implementing them for institutions as well as contributing to national and international discussions and forums relating to international education.

His company, Education Lighthouse, has recruited students from many different regions for all his clients. He has attended, exhibited, and presented at many international conferences around the world.

Prior to joining Loughborough, Martyn has held a number of senior recruitment and marketing roles across different organisations within the HE sector including the British Council, University of Nottingham and IDP Education. More recently he was Interim Director of Marketing, Recruitment and International at Swansea University.

Martyn is a graduate of Cardiff University with a bachelor degree in English and a Masters in Strategic Marketing, further to this he holds a postgraduate qualification from the University of Manchester. He is a former Vice-Chair of the British Universities International Liaison Association (BUILA) and of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) Higher Education Special Interest Group.  In addition to his work with the QS Global Advisory Committee, Martyn is also a current member of the District Cabinet UK and Ireland for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).

Winnie has broad experience in tertiary education across Continents. She has dedicated interests in all-round education, strategy, governance, leadership and management. For over two decades, Winnie held a number of senior academic leadership and executive positions from Vice-President at University of Southampton in the UK, Deputy Vice-Chancellor at The University of Newcastle in Australia, Director of International Affairs at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Deputy Country Director at British Council in Nigeria, to Director of Education Services at British Council in Hong Kong. She is an appointed auditor of Quality Assurance Council at University Grants Committee in Hong Kong between 2014 and 2019. Currently, Winnie is a Partner at Education Insight UK and an honorary member of Association of British Chinese Professors registered in the UK.

Engr. Nestor Rubio Ong is a full-time faculty member and is presently the Deputy Director of the University of Santo Tomas’ Office of QS/THE Rankings. Previously, he served as Assistant Director of the University of Santo Tomas’ Quality Management Office, chair of the IE Department and dean of the College of Engineering of Lyceum of the Philippines-Laguna, and as senior manager of INTEL Philippines.

Engr. Ong is a Professional Industrial Engineer and an ASEAN Engineer. He was the very first to join the ASEAN Engineer registry in 2012 from the UST Faculty of Engineering. The recognition is given to engineers in the Southeast Asian region who have achieved “operational excellence in the field of engineering.”

With his more than two decades of accomplishment-laden experience in several multinational manufacturing companies by assuming various senior and technical management positions, Engr. Ong successfully turned around every manufacturing arena into delivering the necessary factory systems to enable World Class Manufacturing. His excellent leadership efforts won for him several recognitions/awards. One of his notable achievements, when he was named as INTEL Key Employee in Year 2000 in recognition of his valuable services and contributions to INTEL’s operation. This is Intel’s highest recognition award given to a deserving and consistently rated outstanding employee. INTEL Philippines was the nation’s leading exporter for many years past.

With his strong background in various key areas of expertise, he is the prime mover in the successful ISO Certification of UST. He is being considered to be a high caliber consultant that can be tapped in both the industry and academia. Moreover, Engr. Ong crafted a framework of the UST’s EQMS (Educational Quality Management System) for excellence which became his research paper as accepted in two international conferences in the same year entitled, “An Integrated Framework: Unifying Diverse Perspectives in EQMS” and turnedout in reality when UST earned the distinction of being the first and only university in the Philippines with the four-star rating in QS Stars Rating awarded in 2015 and 2017. Now, UST becomes first and only Philippine university with five stars QS rating. Moreover, four of his research papers have been accepted into International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology, which is a Q3 Journal under SCIMAGO-SCOPUS Rankings.

Engr. Ong is currently the only Filipino sitting as a member of the InternationalAcademic Advisory Committee of Quacquarelli-Symonds (QS) since 2015. Simultaneously, he has been chosen as the chair of the parallel sessions committee under the different tracks in every QS International Conference and Exhibit annual events. Several international universities have invited him to sit as one of their advisory board members at their international conferences.

Engr. Ong holds a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering degree from the University of the Philippines-Diliman where he was a consistent UPCE-PCIERD scholar and a BSIE degree from the MAPUA Institute of Technology.

Dr. Alison Lloyd leads the Office of Institutional Research and Planning. She joined Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) in May 2020 after 14 years in The Hong Kong Polytechnic University where she steered international affairs and institutional research in the institution. Prior to joining academia, she worked in the field of management consultancy. Her previous consulting engagements cover strategy, business process re-engineering, performance management frameworks and change management for both private and public sector organisations in the Asia Pacific region. Currently, Dr. Lloyd serves on a number of advisory boards and steering committees pertaining to international higher education. Outside academia, Alison serves as an independent Non-Executive Director of Giordano International Limited (0709: HK), and Director of a social enterprise called WeDo Global.

Pei-Shan Tsai, PhD, RN, isa distinguished professor at Taipei Medical University College of Nursing. Her research focuses on the link between stress‐response systems and chronic illnesses and outcomes of nursing care of patients with stress‐related illnesses. Having published morethan 130 peer-reviewed articles in medical, psychology, and nursing journals, Tsai is noted for bringing researchers from different fields together to collaborate on research projects that have important clinical and policymaking implications. In her capacity as Dean of TMU Office of Global Engagement, she leads a team of professionals and academics to assist international exchange of people and ideas, facilitate collaboration in education and research, and promote the institution’s achievements. Working closely with the University’s Senior Leadership Team, Tsai provides strategic advice and practical solutions to the institution’s vision for international development. She is an active participant in international networks and a member of the QS Academic Committee.

Dr Diah Wihardini is the Director of BINUS Global of Bina Nusantara (BINUS) University in Jakarta, Indonesia. She took her PhD in educational measurement at UC Berkeley under the Presidential Fulbright scholarship, a M.Ed at Flinders University, and a B.Sc (Hons) in Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Adelaide. Her research interests include item response modelling and development, international assessments, teaching and learning, and educational policy analysis.At BINUS, she handles all activities related to internationalisations and collaborations, and teaches mathematics and statistics courses at undergraduate level.

BIO

Engr. Nestor Rubio Ong is a full-time faculty member and is presently the Deputy Director of the University of Santo Tomas’ Office of QS/THE Rankings

TOPICS

• Building Better Universities
• Building Better Universities
• SDGs for Universities
• SDGs for Universities
• Topic Title Text Here
• Topic Title Text Here

BIO

Engr. Nestor Rubio Ong is a full-time faculty member and is presently the Deputy Director of the University of Santo Tomas’ Office of QS/THE Rankings

TOPICS

• Building Better Universities
• Building Better Universities
• SDGs for Universities
• SDGs for Universities
• Topic Title Text Here
• Topic Title Text Here

BIO

Engr. Nestor Rubio Ong is a full-time faculty member and is presently the Deputy Director of the University of Santo Tomas’ Office of QS/THE Rankings

TOPICS

• Building Better Universities
• Building Better Universities
• SDGs for Universities
• SDGs for Universities
• Topic Title Text Here
• Topic Title Text Here

BIO

Engr. Nestor Rubio Ong is a full-time faculty member and is presently the Deputy Director of the University of Santo Tomas’ Office of QS/THE Rankings

TOPICS

• Building Better Universities
• Building Better Universities
• SDGs for Universities
• SDGs for Universities
• Topic Title Text Here
• Topic Title Text Here

BIO

Engr. Nestor Rubio Ong is a full-time faculty member and is presently the Deputy Director of the University of Santo Tomas’ Office of QS/THE Rankings

TOPICS

• Building Better Universities
• Building Better Universities
• SDGs for Universities
• SDGs for Universities
• Topic Title Text Here
• Topic Title Text Here

BIO

Engr. Nestor Rubio Ong is a full-time faculty member and is presently the Deputy Director of the University of Santo Tomas’ Office of QS/THE Rankings

TOPICS

• Building Better Universities
• Building Better Universities
• SDGs for Universities
• SDGs for Universities
• Topic Title Text Here
• Topic Title Text Here