Programme

Phil Baty is a leading international authority on university performance and strategy, with more than 22 years of experience in global higher education, including a decade as editor of the prestigious THE World University Rankings and its derivative analyses. He is an award-winning journalist, a sought-after speaker and commentator, and the creator of the THE World Academic Summits.

Dr Lauren Clarke is vice-rector of student success and international relations at Sampoerna University. She brings over 30 years of experience in international education, having served as a senior administrator at Amherst College, the School for International Training, Dartmouth College, the American Councils for International Education, the American University in Bulgaria, Johns Hopkins’ School for Advanced International Studies, and the Wharton School. Dr Clarke has also participated in international projects for the U.S. Department of State, USAID, and foreign ministries, managing educational initiatives in Eastern Europe and Eurasia. Her research interests include comparative education policy in transitional states and the political economy of higher education.

Gül İnanç is an award-winning lecturer at Nanyang Technological University and is co-director of the Centre for Asia Pacific Refugee Studies at the University of Auckland. Her areas of expertise include modern diplomatic history of West Asia and history education for K-12. Her recent published work focuses on global cultural heritage education for conflict resolution and access to higher education for refugees. She has taught at Bogazici University, Eastern Mediterranean University, University of Cyprus and National University of Singapore. She is the founder of Opening Universities for Refugees, an initiative to build knowledge networks and consortia to offer higher education to communities in need in Southeast Asia.

Duncan Ross has been a data miner since the mid-1990s. As director of data and analytics at THE, he oversees a team that generates university rankings and related data products. Prior to this, he led Teradata’s data science team in Europe and Asia, where he was responsible for developing analytical solutions across a number of industries, including warranty and root-cause analysis in manufacturing and social network analysis in telecommunications.

Nicholas Sabato is director of Country Programs for Education for Humanity at Arizona State University (ASU), and leads ASU’s efforts in extending educational access to refugees and communities affected by displacement around the world through user-centric and partnership-driven connected learning programs. He leads operational efforts with the UN Refugee Agency, local humanitarian partners and government representatives in developing collaborative programs that prepare learners to meet their educational ambitions. He obtained an MA in international relations from the American University.

Manal Stulgaitis is an education officer for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). She currently oversees the agency’s tertiary education portfolio, including work on inclusion of refugees in national education systems, higher education scholarships for refugees, education transitions and protection, humanitarian-development approaches, and complementary education pathways. Her professional expertise is in refugee protection, including durable solutions, urban displacement, child protection and inter-agency coordination. Holding degrees in law, international law and economic development, she has served in civil society, UN and consultant roles throughout MENA, sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia.

Dr Anders Karlsson joined Elsevier in 2012, as vice-president for strategic alliances and global academic relations, to support the company’s relationships with key stakeholders in the Asia-Pacific region. Before that, he was counsellor for science and innovation at the Swedish Embassy in Tokyo. He also previously served as a professor of quantum photonics at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

As vice-president of scientific research, international cooperation and quality assurance, Professor Saad Abo-Qudais is an active member of Al-Balqa Applied University’s (BAU) senior management team. He has extensive experience in teaching and research, strategic planning, curriculum design and development, accreditation, quality assurance and graduate employability. He is a strong advocate of international collaboration, community and industry engagement and is a firm believer in higher education’s socioeconomic transformative power. Professor Abo-Qudais has secured substantial funds to improve BAU’s programs and offerings, meet higher education’s evolving demands, and help students realise their full potential.

Dr Ayth Ibrahim Almubarak’s interests are on governance and finance for public and private organisations, and on public policies on the areas of economics, development, and education. These interests intersect with his educational and professional backgrounds, which include strategic planning and institutional identities, establishing decision support units, restructuring and governing organizations, setting investment policies and plans, setting fiscal balance programs, establishing enterprise risk management units, and setting up accounting and financial systems.

Dr Han-Chieh Chao obtained his PhD degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University in 1993. He is currently serving as president and a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at National Dong Hwa University, and also teaches at National Ilan University. He was director of the Computer Center for the Ministry of Education Taiwan in 2008-2010. His research interests include IPv6, cross-layer design, cloud computing, IoT, and 5G mobile networks. He has authored or co-authored four books and has published about 400 research papers. Thanks to Dr Chao’s contribution of suburban ICT education, he has been awarded the US President's Lifetime Achievement Award and International Albert Schweitzer Foundation Human Contribution Award in 2016.

Professor Xiuli Du is currently vice-president of Beijing University of Technology. He also serves as president of the International Society of Earthquake Engineering for Lifeline and Critical Infrastructure Systems, director of the Infrastructure Earthquake Resistance and Disaster Prevention Committee of China Seismological Society, and is a member of the Discipline Evaluation Group of the Academic Degree Committee of the State Council.

Professor C. Raj Kumar is the founding vice-chancellor of O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU), was appointed in 2009 when the university was established. He conceived the idea of India's first 'global university' and JGU is one of only 20 universities in India and the only non-STEM and non-medicine university. Professor Kumar works in the fields of human rights and development, comparative constitutional law, terrorism and national security, corruption and governance, law and disaster management, and legal and higher education. He has over 200 publications to his credit and has published widely in Australia, India, Hong Kong, UK, and the USA.

Chukwudi Ogoh is a technology consultant in assessment solutions for the Asia-Pacific region at Turnitin. Driven by a passion for continuous learning, teaching, and knowledge management, he has extensive experience designing education programs for adult learners in online learning environments. Ogoh has played a pivotal role in course development, including the launch, design, and project management of the MBA Online program for the RMIT partner, and the masters of cybersecurity and education for Edith Cowan University.

Professor Hamish Coates is a tenured professor at Tsinghua University’s Institute of Education, as well as director of the higher education division and deputy director of the Global Research Centre for the Assessment of College and Student Development. He contributes to higher education through research, leadership, and development, and is considered an authority in large-scale evaluation, tertiary education policy, institutional strategy, assessment methodology, and learner engagement.

Stella Stefany is the department chair at Pelita Harapan University and is an experienced education professional and lecturer with a demonstrated history of working in the online education industry. She is passionate about positive impact through inclusive education and digital communication. Supported by a master’s in communication science, Stefany specialises in the areas of learning management systems, educational technology, instructional design, and shares her insights via regular public speaking engagements.

Dr Daniel Tan is an experienced chief experience officer with a rich history in the higher education industry and industry 4.0 transformation. He possesses a strong business development acumen, with a DipTHE focused on higher education from Nanyang Technological University. Dr Tan is skilled in eLearning ecosystem-infrastructure design and impactful implementation, coaching, research design, lecturing, and educational technology.

Dr Tosh Yamamoto is a professor in the Centre for Teaching and Learning at Kansai University. His current focus is on the development of an e-portfolio system for life-long learning, to benefit stakeholders involved in education and assessment strategies and their visualisation. He has played an active role in disseminating the use of e-portfolios in higher education by organising workshop sessions at various conferences, as well as delivering lectures in the faculty development symposia.

Tim Sowula joined THE in 2016 as head of content and engagement. Previously he spent six years at the British Council, managing the external communication of its global portfolio of education and civil society projects. He has published articles in print and online for a variety of international publications on international development, politics and social justice, and produced film and radio projects. Before settling in the UK, he worked in Bangladesh and the US.

Dr Maha Mishari Al Saud is governor of the American College of Physicians in Saudi Arabia, runs a medical practice, and is vice-president of external relations at Alfaisal University. She has created multiple committees to streamline women’s admission and improve their learning environment, and women are now enrolled in four of the university’s colleges including medicine, engineering, science, and business. Presently, Dr Al Saud is a consultant of internal medicine and senior clinical scientist at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre and an assistant professor in the College of Medicine at Alfaisal University.

Professor C. Raj Kumar is the founding vice-chancellor of O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU), was appointed in 2009 when the university was established. He conceived the idea of India's first 'global university' and JGU is one of only 20 universities in India and the only non-STEM and non-medicine university. Professor Kumar works in the fields of human rights and development, comparative constitutional law, terrorism and national security, corruption and governance, law and disaster management, and legal and higher education. He has over 200 publications to his credit and has published widely in Australia, India, Hong Kong, UK, and the USA.

Professor Chen Liu is an art historian who obtained her PhD from Arizona State University. Her research interests include Chinese and Japanese art, with a specialisation in ancient Chinese painting. Besides courses such as Introduction to World Art opened to the undergraduate students at Peking University, she also teaches seminar courses such as Art of China for international students.

Dr Yuan-Ron Ma received his PhD degree from the University of Nottingham. Currently, he is a professor of physics and dean of the Office of International Affairs at National Dong Hwa University, where his main responsibility to recruit international students and cooperate with international institutes in academics and research. His research interests include nanoscience, nanotechnology, materials sciences, and magnonics. He is serving for editorships of Chinese Journal of Physics (Elsevier), Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group), Sensors (MDPI), and Nanomaterials (MDPI).

Professor Nurlidia Mansor has more than 20 years of experience as an academic in the areas of environmental engineering and biotechnology. As director of the Centre for Student Development, she has a newfound interest and passion in student development and experience. She enjoys interacting, motivating and challenging youth, and believes that every individual is gifted with amazing potential.

Associate Professor Dr Musdi Shanat is dean of the Faculty of Applied and Creative Arts at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, where he is responsible for planning, resourcing, and supporting research and innovation. He obtained his master’s degree at Aizu University in 2002, and his PhD at the University of Western Australia 2014. Dr Shanat has published in many international journals, as well as book chapters and popular media. His commitment to teaching, learning, and research earned him the prestigious Anugerah Seni dan Kreativiti Award in 2016.

Professor Kellee Tsai has championed the inclusion of creative arts in the university’s common core curriculum as a distinct category from the general humanities requirement. She is leading the development of minor programs in the creative arts that will leverage space in the to-be-completed Shaw Auditorium.

Dr Shihuai Zhao serves as deputy director of the International Office at Tiangong University, where he oversees international partnerships and agreements, cooperative education, and study abroad programs. He obtained his bachelor’s degree from Tianjin University and his PhD degree from Louisiana Tech University. De Zhao is also associate professor of chemical engineering, with research interests in nanocatalysis for green energy and environmental restoration.

Based in Hong Kong, Joyce Lau covers university and research news across the region, from Japan to India. She previously worked at The University of Hong Kong and The New York Times, where she also covered global higher education. Lau was a fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford and studied English at McGill University in her native Montreal.

Professor Yuwen Chang is a professor in the Department of Education. She obtained her PhD from University of Minnesota. She is the National Research Coordinator of Progress in International Reading Literacy Study 2021, and also serves as a committee member for Taiwan International Large-Scale Study Center.

Dr Abdel Karim Daragmeh is director of the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching at An-Najah University, coordinator of The Najah Community Pathways Program, and associate professor of English. He has extensive experience in project management and faculty professional development, and his areas of expertise include program curriculum design, problem- and project-based learning, curriculum digitalisation, and program evaluation.

Dr Kwoting Fang is vice-president and professor of the Department of Information Management at National Yunlin University of Science and Technology. He has a PhD in Business Technology from Mississippi State University and was a visiting scholar of Ohio State University. He has published extensively, appearing in Journal of Computer Information Systems, Journal of Information Management, and CyberPsychology and Behaviour. His current research interests are in knowledge engineering and management, qualitative decision analysis, and electronic commerce. He is also associate editor of Commerce and Management.

Professor Nakao Iwata has served as the dean of the School of Medicine since 2015 and vice-president of Fujita Health University (FHU) since 2016. Under his leadership, FHU continues its preeminence in education, patient care, and research. Professor Iwata is a professor of psychiatry – he attended medical school and graduate school at Nagoya University and majored in molecular neurochemistry and clinical psychiatry. He has published on many topics, including psychiatric genetics, pharmacogenomics, and clinical neuropsychopharmacology.

Dr Poh-Sun Seow is associate professor of accounting (education) and associate dean of teaching and curriculum of the School of Accountancy at Singapore Management University (SMU). He was the first professor in Asia to receive the Howard Teall Award for Innovation in Accounting Education in 2020 from the Canadian Academic Accounting Association. He also received the American Accounting Association Jim Bulloch Award for Innovations in Management Accounting Education in 2017 and the Innovation in Accounting Education Award in 2015, for his award-winning mobile learning app Accounting Challenge. Dr Seow was inducted on the SMU Teaching Honour Roll in 2017.

Professor Chunhong Wang is dean of the International School of Education and director of the International Office at Tiangong University. She is dedicated to the promotion of educational internationalisation and education reform, and oversees international education, exchange, and cooperation. With research interests in biological matrix composites, Professor Wang has published 3 monographs and over 130 papers, owned 29 authorized patents, and won more than 20 awards in teaching and technology. She also served as executive director of the Chinese branch of The Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering.

Seeta Bhardwa has been the student content editor at THE since 2017. She manages a network of student bloggers from all over the world who write about their experiences of studying at university, while creating student-focused content based on the THE rankings portfolio and writing comment and advice pieces on student issues. She was previously the deputy editor of Independent Nurse magazine and has a BA in English from the University of Reading.

Dr Hanan Abdul Rahim is dean of the College of Health Sciences at Qatar University, the country’s largest national university. She has a PhD in epidemiology and over 20 years of experience in the field of public health and epidemiology. She is committed to developing public health education and research in the region.

Lima Choudhury is head of admissions and financial aid at Independent University, Bangladesh. Over her 25-year career she has worked for different private universities within admissions, financial aid, students affairs, and head of school. She has completed two master’s degrees in international relations and development studies. 

Tom Dunlop is The Access Platform’s customer success manager (APAC) and is based in Sydney, Australia. A graduate of Australia’s Griffith University, he has worked in international education since 2008 across multiple public and private industry sectors and destination countries. Dunlop has extensive work experience across APAC, especially mainland China (being professionally proficient in Mandarin).

Yuuki Guzmán serves as assistant manager of the Graduate School External Engagement Section at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Graduate University. Guzmán has been leading initiatives related to domestic and international student recruitment for the PhD Program and Research Internship, K-12 science education outreach, and alumni tracking and engagement activities.

Dr Xu Li is currently associate dean of administration for the School of Design at Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech). Previously, she served as associate director of global engagement. Dr Li obtained her PhD in higher education from the University of Michigan, and her MA in education administration from Columbia University.

Arlene Tan is associate director of marketing and brand in the Office of University Communications at the National University of Singapore, where she looks after marketing and brand communications for the university. Prior to that, she has spent over 20 years across dynamic industries and has held various positions in broadcast media, strategic marketing, and brand communications.

Dr Atsuo Yasumori is the managing director of the board of directors at Tokyo University of Science (TUS) where he oversees student recruitment, digital transformation, and internationalisation. He is also a professor in the Faculty of Industrial Science and Technology at TUS. His current focus is on inorganic materials and physical properties in glasses, photo-, electric-, magnetic-, thermal functions, photocatalysis, and chemical sensing.

Ellie Bothwell is rankings editor and international reporter at THE. She oversees editorial content for THE’s global series of rankings, including the flagship World University Rankings, and reports on all areas of internationalisation, including student and staff mobility, research and institutional partnerships, and branch campuses.

Hayden Scown is director of financial institutions and education across the APAC region at Western Union Business Solutions. He has over 15 years of experience in international payments with a considerable focus on the higher education industry. Scown graduated from the University of Waikato in New Zealand and spent 6 years in Japan before moving to Australia.

Emeric Abrignani is a university administrator and lecturer in the fields of international business, international relations, and management. Abrignani has been operating in Turkey as director of the International Office of Abdullah Gül University since 2014, where he initiated and supervises the university’s internationalisation process as well as general international activities.

Dr Chauhan has been president of the Amity Education Group since 1994. He completed an engineering degree at University College London, holds an accounting and finance degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a degree in international business from Frankfurt International School.

Professor Philippe Gourbesville has been professor of hydroinformatics at Polytech Nice Sophia, the graduate school of engineering of Nice Sophia Antipolis University, since 1997. He previously served as director of the school in 2007–2017. In 2012, he initiated the Tianjin International Engineering Institute with Tianjin University and is currently serving as French director of the school. Since 2004, Professor Gourbesville is coordinator of the EuroAquae consortium, gathering five awarding European universities (France, Germany, Poland, UK, Spain) and 11 international universities that deliver the first joint master of sciences in hydroinformatics and water management under the Erasmus Mundus framework.

Professor Atsuko Kashiwagi is director of international coordination at Showa Women’s University. She received her BA in law from Waseda University, and her MA in applied linguistics from Columbia University. Before assuming her current position, Professor Kashiwagi was chair of the Department of Contemporary Liberal Arts, and then the Department of International Studies.

Associate Professor Dr Shanti Faridah Salleh is director of UNIMAS Global at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, where she is responsible for the strategic planning and management of the university's international outlook and partnership. A Loughborough University graduate, she has been with UNIMAS for 20 years and has held numerous management positions.

Professor Suchatvee Suwansawat serves as president of the Council of University Presidents of Thailand (CUPT) as well as president of the Association of Southeast Asian Institutions of Higher Learning (ASAIHL). He is widely recognised as one of the greatest leaders in Thailand’s higher education sector with the aim to escalate it to the international arena. With his advanced vision and leadership, he has been dubbed ‘the Disruptor’ of Thailand

Professor Chunmiao Zheng is vice-provost of global strategies and director of SUSTech Global and Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech). He joined SUSTech as chair professor and founding dean of the School of Environmental Science and Engineering in 2015. He was previously chair professor and director of the Institute of Water Sciences at Peking University, and served as president of the International Commission on Groundwater of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) in 2009–2013. He is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union and the Geological Society of America.

Duncan Ross has been a data miner since the mid-1990s. As director of data and analytics at THE, he oversees a team that generates university rankings and related data products. Prior to this, he led Teradata’s data science team in Europe and Asia, where he was responsible for developing analytical solutions across a number of industries, including warranty and root-cause analysis in manufacturing and social network analysis in telecommunications.

Professor Habib Fardoun is director of King Abdulaziz University’s Observatory Center for Academic Standards and Excellence. He is a member of the institution’s Faculty of Computing and Information, and has a PhD in computer engineering and information technology. He is also a consultant to the vice-president of development on international relationships and rankings.

Mattheus Goosen has played key roles in the development of new start-up academic institutions. For the past thirteen years he has been founding associate vice-president of research and graduate studies at Alfaisal University, a private start-up non-profit institution in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Before joining the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in 2010, Professor Jay Lee was a faculty member in the US for 20 years, mostly at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He recently served as the associate vice-president of the International Office and is currently serving as international relations advisor to the president and director of the Saudi Aramco-KAIST CO2 Management Center.

Hong Zi obtained her bachelor’s degree from Peking University in 2005. She studied at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for one year and finished her master’s studies at Stanford University in 2008. She joined Soochow University in 2009 and worked in the Undergraduate Academic Affairs Office and School of Continuing Education. Now, she is deputy director of the International Office and oversees international partnerships, international agreements, and the study abroad programs within the whole university.

Responsible for growing Coursera’s consumer and enterprise business in the region, Raghav Gupta has 20 years of experience across consumer, internet and management consulting industries in India, Southeast Asia and Europe. Previously, he was India country manager at BlaBlaCar, an inter-city carpooling service. As a management consultant for 15 years, Gupta led the retail practice of Strategy& (erstwhile Booz & Co.) in India, and served as president of Technopak Advisors. He holds an MBA from INSEAD in France and completed post-graduate studies in fashion business management at the National Institute of Fashion Technology.

Tim Sowula joined THE in 2016 as head of content and engagement. Previously he spent six years at the British Council, managing the external communication of its global portfolio of education and civil society projects. He has published articles in print and online for a variety of international publications on international development, politics and social justice, and produced film and radio projects. Before settling in the UK, he worked in Bangladesh and the US.

Dr Karin Avnit is an associate professor at Singapore Institute of Technology, as well as deputy director of the Centre for Learning Environment & Assessment Development (CoLEAD), focusing on the development of the university’s technology-enhanced learning capabilities. She is also a software engineer and deputy director of the Infocomm Technology undergraduate programme. Dr Avnit won the SIT Teaching Excellence Award in 2017 and 2019.

Dr Archana Mantri is vice-chancellor of Chitkara University. She is a thought leader, enabler and spearheads several initiatives related to research, innovation, and entrepreneurship at the University. Dr Mantri is an engineer by profession, an educator by choice and loves to read books on Indian mythology and fiction.

Lyu Qiuliang graduated from Tsinghua University in 2015, after which he joined XuetangX as a director of the Product and Application Support Center. In 2016, in collaboration with Tsinghua University Online Education Office and Academy, the smart teaching tool “Rain Classroom” was launched online and Qiuliang served as its co-founder. Rain Classroom has become the most active innovation platform for higher education teaching in China.

Professor Christian Wagner is associate provost of quality assurance, chief information officer, and chair professor of social media in City University of Hong Kong (CityU). Professor Wagner specialises in the study of creativity support, collective intelligence, knowledge management, and computer games for learning. He is an award-winning author, multiple teaching award winner, experienced administrator, and software entrepreneur.

Professor Jiang Wu has held various posts including foreign member of the Academy of Architecture (France) , planner and first-class registered architect of China, now executive vice-president of Tongji University in Shanghai. He was also elected as the Steering Committee Chairman of the Global University Partnership for Environment and Sustainability in Nairobi (GUPES). Professor Wu has published over 10 books and 60 articles in his research fields.

Dr Atsuo Yasumori is the managing director of the board of directors at Tokyo University of Science (TUS) where he oversees student recruitment, digital transformation, and internationalisation. He is also a professor in the Faculty of Industrial Science and Technology at TUS. His current focus is on inorganic materials and physical properties in glasses, photo-, electric-, magnetic-, thermal functions, photocatalysis, and chemical sensing.

John Gill has been an editor at THE since 2012. He has previously held roles as news editor, deputy news editor and reporter with the magazine. Gill has been closely involved in the development of THE’s World University Rankings portfolio over the last eight years, and was called to give evidence to the recent parliamentary inquiry into teaching metrics.

İrem Arman started working as a public relations specialist at the Environmental Protection Agency-EPA in the USA, and later worked as director of membership services at the Independent Colleges and Universities Benefits Association (ICUBA). Since returning to Turkey in 2008, Arman has been advisor to the president of global affairs at Istanbul Aydin University.

Professor Xiuli Du is currently vice-president of Beijing University of Technology. He also serves as president of the International Society of Earthquake Engineering for Lifeline and Critical Infrastructure Systems, director of the Infrastructure Earthquake Resistance and Disaster Prevention Committee of China Seismological Society, and is a member of the Discipline Evaluation Group of the Academic Degree Committee of the State Council.

Professor C. Raj Kumar is the founding vice-chancellor of O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU), was appointed in 2009 when the university was established. He conceived the idea of India's first 'global university' and JGU is one of only 20 universities in India and the only non-STEM and non-medicine university. Professor Kumar works in the fields of human rights and development, comparative constitutional law, terrorism and national security, corruption and governance, law and disaster management, and legal and higher education. He has over 200 publications to his credit and has published widely in Australia, India, Hong Kong, UK, and the USA.

Kanwal Malik is a certified human resource management professional currently working as deputy manager of human resources at the University of Management and Technology, where she looks after strategic and employee engagement. With over 11 years of experience working for different organisations, she is a result-oriented and passionate individual who provides value-added contributions through responsibility and ownership. She believes in continuous learning to attain proficiency in career development and recommends inculcating a culture of transformational leadership.

Azlan Ramli is registrar of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) and has been working with UNIMAS for over 24 years. As registrar, he oversees and maintains collaborative working relationships with the university’s leadership, faculty and staff, and supports the university’s programs and policies as established by the Federal, State and academic entities. He acts as a central communication resource for human resource management information and policies as well as academic and policy information related to student academic records management. He is also responsible for the maintenance and integrity of staff service records as well as student academic records.

Professor Sasmita Samanta is pro vice-chancellor and a professor of commerce and management at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT). She has received 25 awards from for her outstanding contribution to the field of education and leadership. Her main areas of research are in the field of human development, education, and leadership. Professor Samanta has published 30 research articles, one book, is a popular blogger, and a voracious speaker. She is executive editor of the Indian Commerce Journal since 2018 and is currently president of the Indian Commerce Association and Odisha Commerce Association.

Professor Ming-Chien Su is vice-dean of the Office of International Affairs at National Dong Hwa University, where she is responsible for the strategic planning and management of the university’s sustainable development goals and international outlook. She also serves as vice-dean of the College of Environmental Studies since 2019, and her research interests are focused on environmental fate study, environmental management, and environmental policy. She is leading the joint research project “Environmental Governance: Well-living, Well-being, and the Sustainable Development Goals for indigenous small Island” with researchers from Taiwan, Japan, Philippines, and Canada.

Toru Tadaki was born and educated in Japan and UK and is now vice-president and executive director of Baiko Gakuin University. He endeavours to change the working and teaching culture - a difficult task but one he enjoys.

Seeta Bhardwa has been the student content editor at THE since 2017. She manages a network of student bloggers from all over the world who write about their experiences of studying at university, while creating student-focused content based on the THE rankings portfolio and writing comment and advice pieces on student issues. She was previously the deputy editor of Independent Nurse magazine and has a BA in English from the University of Reading.

Professor Vishna Devi Nadarajah is an experienced medical educator and biochemist at the International Medical University (IMU). A graduate of three universities, she values diversity as a strength in any institution. She leads the educational strategies, new programme development and international partnerships at IMU as pro vice-chancellor of education and institutional development. Her areas of research in health professions education is in faculty development, assessment, and innovative teaching and learning methods. Professor Devi Nadarajah has shared her experience and expertise at conferences, faculty development workshops, and collaborative research.

Ashish Khosla is co-founder and president of innovation at Shoolini University, India’s leading research-centric private university. As president of innovation, he has helped transform the university by developing one of the world’s most cutting-edge learning platforms using artificial intelligence and innovative pedagogy. After obtaining his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, he has worked in leadership roles at Citibank, HSBC, and Union National Bank.

Dr May Lim is an associate professor at the Singapore Institute of Technology. She oversees Centre for Learning Environment and Assessment Development (CoLEAD) that looks after the faculty development programmes in learning and teaching at the university level. Dr Lim won the university’s Teaching Excellence Award in 2016 and 2018.

Professor Partha Mallick has been director of rankings and accreditation at Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) since 2015. Prior to this, he served as dean of electrical engineering at VIT in 2011-2015, and technical head at IAAB Electronics. His books and book chapters have been published by Springer-UK, IET-UK and Scitech-India. He is adviser of IEEE-EDS-VIT Chapter of Region 10 Asia pacific. Professor Mallick organised the VIT Conference at the University of Cambridge in 2018 and at Indiana-Purdue University in 2019.

Aya Puca works with students on professional and career development at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST). She provides skill development opportunities to students to help them transition to life after graduation, and also creates opportunities for students and local community members to engage and appreciate each other’s stories.

Poorvi Shah has been in the development sector for the past 16 years and is passionate about woman empowerment, equity, and education. Prior to this, Shah was with PwC and then with Indocean Venture Capital and IndAsia Fund Advisors, one of the first venture capital firms in India.

Dr Wajdi Wazzan is vice-dean of students with special needs in the Deanship for Student Affairs as well as associate professor of industrial engineering at King Abdulaziz University. He is also secretary-general of the disabled students committee for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and winner of the Zero Project Award 2020.

Simon Baker has been at THE since 2010 and was previously news editor. Before joining THE, he worked for eight years as a reporter and news editor at the Press Association. He studied at the University of Bristol for a BSc in Economics and Politics and also holds a postgraduate diploma in newspaper journalism from City University.

Zaher Dawy serves as interim provost at the American University of Beirut (AUB) and is also a professor of electrical and computer engineering. At AUB, he leads a range of initiatives focused on research ascendancy and funding programs, graduate studies and student experience, and academic affairs.

Professor Habib Fardoun is director of King Abdulaziz University’s Observatory Center for Academic Standards and Excellence. He is a member of the institution’s Faculty of Computing and Information, and has a PhD in computer engineering and information technology. He is also a consultant to the vice-president of development on international relationships and rankings.

Professor Jian-Hui Jiang has been vice-president of Hunan University since 2019. He oversees graduate studies, human resources and talent recruitment and management of the university. Professor Jiang's research interest includes synthetic and genetically encoded molecular tools for biosensing and bioimaging, in vivo gene delivery and cell-based therapeutics, as well as integrated platforms for clinical diagnostics.

A professor of urban and environmental engineering at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Professor Myong-In Lee received his PhD in atmospheric sciences from Seoul National University in 2001. From 2003 to 2010, he worked at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and came to UNIST in 2010. He has been serving as dean of the Public Relations and International Affairs Office at UNIST since 2020.

Professor Yuelin Li earned her PhD from the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University, following a master’s at Nankai University. She is currently a full professor, chair of the Department of Information Resources Management in Business School, and director of the Office of International Affairs at Nankai University.

Dr Junguo Liu’s research interests include hydrology and water resources management, global environmental change, and ecological restoration. He has earned an international reputation through contributions to water resources research and ecological restoration, and has led pioneering work on water resources assessment in coupled human-natural systems. He is author of about 150 publications. He has won a number of awards, including Outstanding Young Scientist Award of the European Geosciences Union (2009), Young Scientists Award (2018) from the Ministry of Education of China, and Science and Technology Award for Chinese Youth (2019).

Dr Elena Pernia is a vice-president of public affairs and professor of communication at the University of the Philippines. She has over 20 years of experience in communication and media education, research, planning, and evaluation. Her highly distinguished academic career focuses on capacity-building of students, local governments, health professionals, and civil society organizations to design, implement, and evaluate their own communication programs.

Hong Zi obtained her bachelor’s degree from Peking University in 2005. She studied at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for one year and finished her master’s studies at Stanford University in 2008. She joined Soochow University in 2009 and worked in the Undergraduate Academic Affairs Office and School of Continuing Education. Now, she is deputy director of the International Office and oversees international partnerships, international agreements, and the study abroad programs within the whole university.