University of Bradford appoints new Associate Deans
The University of Bradford has appointed Professor Amir M. Sharif and Professor Dilek Önkal as Associate Deans in its Faculty of Management and Law.
Professor Sharif joined the University on 1 August as Associate Dean (International) and Professor in Circular Economy, whilst Professor Önkal joined the University on 1 September as Associate Dean (Research and Knowledge Transfer) and Professor in Decision and Organisational Science.
Professor Sharif, a previous Head of Brunel Business School, will help develop and grow the reach and quality of international partnerships, student mobility and transnational education. Amir has held a number of academic leadership positions previously and prior to academia, Amir enjoyed an extensive and successful career in the commercial world working with many leading global firms such as JPMorgan, UBS Investment Bank, KPMG, BAE Systems, Sony, and the BBC.
Allied to this, he brings a wealth of experience in terms of both internationalisation of programmes and overseas global partnerships and has successfully led, directed and contributed to key business school accreditations such as AACSB and AMBA.
Amir is research active across a number of areas including food security, humanitarian operations, and causal decision-making. His research on the impact of European Union farming subsidies on the UK agribusiness sector and the resulting effect on UK climate change policy, was identified as a 4* impact case study in 2014 by the UK’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) sub-panel for Business and Management.
He continues to be an active member on leading national and international grant funding bodies such as the EPSRC, ESRC, the British Council, the EU, and the Qatar National Research Foundation.
Professor Sharif said: “I am delighted to join an innovative and forward-looking institution at a time of transformation but also at a time where we can realise great potential. I want to bring my combination of academic and commercial experiences to add value to leading and managing the Faculty’s international portfolio.
“Internationalisation across teaching and research should ultimately enrich the student learning experience and increase knowledge transfer between academics also.”
Joining Professor Sharif at the University, Professor Önkal has been teaching statistics, forecasting, decision and organisational science at undergraduate, MBA, Executive MBA and PhD levels. She has taught extensively in the US, UK and Turkey. She has also worked as a Director of the International Institute of Forecasters, as well as a member of the Bloomberg Insight Exchange (previously known as Bloomberg Businessweek Markets Advisory Board).
Professor Önkal said: "I am deeply excited to join the Faculty of Management & Law as Associate Dean for Research and Knowledge Transfer.
“As a strong believer in collaborative and multidisciplinary research, I look forward to working with all members of the Faculty to broaden the University's vibrant mosaic of R&KT activities. With research infused throughout all our programs and strategic global partnerships, we will aim to develop synergistic R&KT platforms to promote the University's vision and 'make knowledge work' for all."
Professor Önkal is a quantitative researcher, working in the Judgemental Organisational Science area and has published extensively innumerous prestigious journals. She is currently the Co-Editor of the 3* ‘International Journal of Forecasting’ and is a reviewer for grant councils such as the Economic & Social Research Council, The British Academy, European Science Foundation, Hong Kong Research Grants Council, TÜBÄ°TAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey), Qatar National Research Fund, and Greek Ministry of Education, Lifelong Learning and Religious Affairs.
Professor Önkal joins Bradford from UCL where she is a currently a visiting Fellow at the Judgement and Decisions Lab. Prior to joining UCL, Dilek was the Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences at Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey. Professor Önkal received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, where she taught prior to joining Bilkent University in 1988. She has also been an academic visitor at Oxford University Department of Economics and an associate member of the Nuffield College during 2006-2007. She also spent 2010 at Brunel University.