Past Speakers
Dr. Zhaklina Dhamo
Zhaklina Dhamo is the Head of the Banking and Finance Department at Luarasi University, holding a Doctorate in Economics from the University of Tirana. She has extensive academic experience, including roles as a lecturer at several universities. Zhaklina will coordinate the Jean Monnet project on Albania-EU Finance Integration and has published multiple research papers in esteemed journals. Her academic interests encompass bankruptcy, EU financial regulations, strategic planning, and economic research, contributing significantly to international conferences and donor-funded projects.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohammad Alawamleh
Mohammad Alawamleh is an Associate Professor of Business Administration and currently the Dean of the Faculty of Business at the American University of Madaba. He previously served as Dean of Scientific Research and Graduate Studies. Dr. Alawamleh holds a BSc in Computer Engineering and an MSc in Digital Communication Systems from Loughborough University, and a PhD in Operations Management from Coventry University, UK. His research focuses on AI applications in business and education, innovation management, human capital investments, and digital transformation in higher education. Passionate about leveraging smart technologies to enhance academic and administrative performance, he also explores managerial and technical solutions for enterprise collaboration. He serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Modelling in Management and sits on the editorial boards of several academic journals. A published author in leading peer-reviewed journals, he has delivered keynote speeches globally and is a two-time recipient of the Emerald Literati Award for Excellence.
Dr. Kanjana Phonsumlissakul
Kanjana Phonsumlissakul is an Assistant Professor at Kasetsart Business School, Kasetsart University, with expertise in accounting and auditing. She holds a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license in Thailand and has professional experience as an auditor. Her research focuses on taxation and voluntary disclosure.
Dr. Ogundare Olusegun Samuel
Dr. Ogundare Olusegun Samuel holds a B.Sc. in Business Administration from Olabisi Onabanjo University, an M.Sc. in Industrial Relations and Personnel Management from the University of Lagos, and PhDs in Management Science and Business Administration. His expertise spans leadership, organizational development, training, performance management, and recruitment. He has consulted widely across sectors and published numerous scholarly works locally and internationally. Dr. Ogundare contributed to Lagos State’s mega city plan under the 2008 World Bank Investment Climate Program. He is the CEO of Intellectual Edge Services, an associate consultant to several firms, and the pioneer Registrar/Secretary of the Institute of Business Analyst & Process Management. He enjoys research and mentoring and is married with three daughters.
Mrs. Hlengiwe Nzama-Mqeke
Hlengiwe Nzama-Mqeke is a PhD candidate in Commerce (Management) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, with research focused on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), SMEs, and capacity development. She holds a Bachelor of Social Science (BSS) in Psychology and Management, an Honours Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) in Management, and a Master of Commerce (MCom) in Management. Hlengiwe currently serves as academic admin support staff at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) and brings experience in academic assessment and supervision through her engagements with MANCOSA University, Regent College, and formerly UNISA. She is an accredited Life Coach with COMENSA, a SETA-accredited assessor, and a mentor with both HERS-SA and EmpowHER SA at CPUT. As an entrepreneur, Hlengiwe leads a professional development business with a focus on leadership, coaching, and training. Her work bridges academic research and practical application, promoting inclusive growth and ethical leadership within emerging economies.
Dr. Mohammad Al-Dwiry
Dr. Mohammad Al-Dwiry is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Banking and Financial Sciences at the Hashemite University. He earned his Ph.D. in Finance from the Faculty of Business at the University of Málaga in 2013. Prior to joining Hashemite University, he served at Al-Ahliyya Amman University as an Assistant Professor in Finance and Banking. His research interests include E-Banking, Investment, Risk Management, Asset Pricing Models, and Simulation-Based Econometric Methods. Dr. Al-Dwiry is a recipient of the prestigious CFA Prize awarded by the CFA Society Jordan in recognition of his contributions to the field of finance.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zyad Marashdeh
Dr. Zyad Marashdeh is an Associate Professor of Finance at Hashemite University, Jordan, where he has served since 2014. He earned his bachelor's degree from Al-Yarmouk University in 2005, a master's from Salford University, UK, in 2007, and a PhD in Finance from the University of Central Lancashire, UK, in 2014. From 2021 to 2023, he served as Vice Dean of the Business School for Quality Assurance and Accreditation and was Head of the Department of Banking and Financial Sciences from 2017 to 2019. He has published extensively in refereed journals on topics such as ownership, corporate performance, corporate governance, economic phenomena, and green finance, contributing to the growing body of knowledge in finance and economic finance.
Dr. Philip Maymin
Janus Henderson and Fairfield University, United States
Dr. Philip Maymin is the Director of Asset Allocation Strategies at Janus Henderson Investors, a position he has held since joining the firm in 2022. Working closely with the portfolio managers and researchers, he represents the firm’s asset allocation and adaptive strategies to clients and prospective clients. Before Janus Henderson, Philip was an insight partner and head of insight products at Essentia Analytics from 2019. He served as a research partner and academic advisor from 2009 to 2018 at Gerstein Fisher. He was co-founder and portfolio manager at Maymin Capital Management LLC from 2005 to 2007. Before that, he was a portfolio manager at Ellington Management Group LLC from 2000. Philip began his career as a strategist at Long-Term Capital Management LP in 1996. His experience also includes serving as a professor at NYU Tandon, the University of Bridgeport, and Fairfield Dolan.
Philip received a BA degree in computer science and an MS degree in applied mathematics from Harvard University. He earned a Ph.D. in finance from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business. He has 28 years of financial industry experience.
Topic
Risk: A unifying perspective for management, business, and finance, with implications for AI and psychology.
Dr. Meral Kızrak
Assistant Professor of Management and Organization at Başkent University, Turkey
Meral Kızrak, PhD., is an assistant professor of Management and Organization at Başkent University, serving as the Vice Director of the Graduate School of Social Sciences, Ankara, Türkiye. Her main interests and research areas include organization theory, organization development, social network theory, human resource management, and organizational behavior. She teaches introduction to management, organization theory, organization development, international management at the department of Business Administration at Başkent University. She has articles and book chapters published by national and international publishers.
Topic
Intra-Organizational Dynamics Through a Social Network Perspective
Dr. John Rose
MBA Ph.D., Pepperdine University, United States
Topic
Transforming Decision-Making in Modern Business
Dr. Marina Stefanova
Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, Bulgaria
Assoc. Prof. Marina Stefanova, PhD has been member of the “Industrial Economics and Management” Department since the Autumn of 2020. She is a director of the Master’s programme “Responsible and Sustainable Governance”.
Positions in the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration: Vice-Dean “Sustainability, Empowerment, and Engagement, Director of the master’s Program Responsible and Sustainable Governance, Director of ESG Lab and Director of ESG Academy. Her professional interests include: Sustainable development and corporate responsibility, Start-ups and social entrepreneurship, Project management and Alternative dispute resolution and mediation
Topic
Sustainability: the future of Academia-Industry cooperation
Dr. John Rose
Dr. John Rose holds a Doctorate and MBA from Pepperdine Graziadio Business School. His extensive international experience spans 136 countries on three continents. A trailblazer in travel risk management, John is recognized for his expertise and serves as a sought-after academic and consultant in M&A integration, offering profound insights and strategic guidance.
Dr. Mohamad Atyeh
Dr. Mohamad Atyeh currently holds the position of Senior Lecturer at Kaplan Business School, Australia, and serves as an academic at the University of Western Australia. With nearly two decades of combined professional and academic experience, he has contributed to various higher education and financial institutions in both Kuwait and Australia, and has served on the boards of several companies. Dr. Atyeh holds a PhD in Business Administration, and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), and has worked as a consultant on a diverse range of projects within the financial services and project management sectors. Moreover, Dr. Atyeh has presented his research at numerous international conferences spanning Asia, Australia, Japan, North America, and Europe. His contributions extend to several publications in esteemed international peer-reviewed journals, with a focus on finance, investment, and education. Notably, he has recently earned a certificate in leadership from Harvard Business School.
Dr. Marie-Anne Razafiarivony,
Marie-Anne Razafiarivony holds a PhD in Commerce from the University of Santo Tomas, Philippines. She is an associate professor in the Business Department, School of Postgraduate Studies, at the Adventist University of Africa. Currently she is the coordinator of the MBA program. Her research interests include career management, management of nonprofit organizations, and interface between faith and business.
Prof. Dr. Ahmet Can Inci
A. Can Inci is a Full Professor of Finance at Bryant University in Rhode Island, USA. He got his doctoral degree at University Of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 2001. He also holds an MBA from Ohio State University, MS in Control Systems from Imperial College – University of London, and a BS in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey. Prof. Inci is a prolific researcher in Finance. His book ‘Contemporary Issues in Quantitative Finance’ was recently published by Routledge in April 2023. His research activity focuses on exchange rate movements, corporate governance, emerging markets, oil and energy, futures, flight to quality, contagion at markets and financial institutions, gender gap at the workplace, insider trading, intraday volatility, and market efficiency. He has more than 40 publications, many of them published at top journals such as Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Financial Management, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Global Finance Journal, and others. He is on the editorial board of many academic journals. He has also taught numerous different classes in international finance and business, investments, corporate finance, foundations of financial theory, financial analytics, and financial engineering. He is the CAIA representative, AASCB program consultant and reviewer, among many other service activities.
Dr. Berit Sandberg
Prof. Dr. Berit Sandberg has been a professor of business administration at HTW Business School, University of Applied Sciences Berlin, since 2003. Her research interest is on intersections between arts and business including art-based learning as well as on leadership development and entrepreneurship education.
Atsushi Kobayashi,
Atsushi Kobayashi, a DBA student, is dedicated to investigating entrepreneurial intentions and also instructs Japanese at a university. His future research endeavours will centre on the interplay between language learning and entrepreneurial intentions, harmonising his roles as a researcher and Japanese language lecturer.
Philip Maymin
Philip Maymin is Director of Asset Allocation Strategies at Janus Henderson Investors and Associate Professor of Analytics at Fairfield Dolan. He holds a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Chicago, a Master's in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University, and a Bachelor's in Computer Science from Harvard University. He won the Wolfram Innovator Award and is an attorney-at-law in California.
Piotr Szekowski
Piotr Szekowski - student at the Doctoral School of Bialystok University of Technology. Professional actor, soft skills trainer, business owner, lecturer of MBA studies at the Faculty of Management Engineering. Area of scientific interest is place branding. Doctoral research includes case studies of 15 European cities on models of cooperation between theatres and local governments towards building a strong city brand.
Atantra Das Gupta
As a pracademician at Samsung and a research scholar at MDI, Gurgaon, I have made significant contributions to the field of digital health, with several publications to my name. My academic journey includes an ME in Biomedical Engineering, PGDM, MS in AI/ML, and advanced Digital Health qualifications. However, my most recent achievement is the completion of a Professional Doctorate from EIU, which has further enhanced my expertise in the field.
Hayat Farag
Hayat Farag is an independent data analyst and junior researcher. With over 15 years of experience, she held senior managerial and executive roles in various industries, ranging from the pharmaceutical to the import and export sectors. Besides, her combined interest in crafts, recycling, and greening of businesses has led Hayat to establish a start-up business concerning creating handmade art pieces from wastepaper, plastics, and eggshells. As a result, many TV programs and newspaper articles reported her achievements in this area. Also, she won the prize of Best Women Entrepreneur in Egypt (Fourth Place) from Shell company and the British Council in 2014/2015. Hayat holds a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences (Alexandria University, Egypt, 2005), an MBA and an Academic Master’s degree in Business Administration (Arab Academy for Science, Technology, and Maritime Transport, Egypt, 2018 and 2022, respectively). Currently, Hayat aims to pursue a PhD degree in Entrepreneurship and Sustainability discipline.
Boutaina EL KHATTAB
Boutaina El Khattab, a doctoral student at Abdelmalek Essaadi University and MA in Organizations Consulting and Auditing from the National School of Business and Management. Her research centers on the education-employment nexus, with a particular interest in the experience of new graduates entering the job market, aiming to contribute to both academic debates and policymaking through her work.
