Academic Supervisors

Rauf Abdul, PhD, Dean and Head of School of Business, holds a PhD in Human Resource Management from the University of Twente, the Netherlands, in addition to an MBA and MSc in Business. A Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK), he is an expert in business education, accreditation, and curriculum innovation, working with AACSB, AMBA, FIBAA, and NVAO. Since 2015, Abdul has… read more.

Dadi Chen, PhD, is Deputy Head of School of Business at Wittenborg's Amsterdam study location, Associate Professor of Applied Sciences and Programme Coordinator. He obtained a PhD degree in Education from Leiden University, the Netherlands, and received his master’s degree in Foreign Linguistics & Applied Linguistics from Xi'an Jiaotong University in… read more.

Fahad Shakeel, PhD, Deputy Head of School of Business, is also an Assistant Professor of Applied Sciences and Teaching Quality Coordinator at Wittenborg. He completed his PhD at Radboud University, the Netherlands, in 2021. His research focuses on leadership, ethics and sustainability. He teaches multiple modules related to his research… read more.

Adeyemi Banjo, MSc, MBA, comes from a multidisciplinary background. He first graduated from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, in 1991, with a BSc in Psychology. After working for a couple of years, he decided to further his studies and was able to obtain degrees in informatics and engineering management from Saxion, the Netherlands, a master’s in Business Administration (MBA… read more.

Gábor Molnár, PhD, Associate Professor of Applied Sciences, is an academic with research interests in high-tech innovations, (big) data-related policymaking, and applied Artificial Intelligence. He is also a business development professional with over twenty years of experience in the high-tech industry. In addition to teaching for Wittenborg, Dr Molnár is an Associate… read more.

Muhammad Ashfaq, MBA, PhD, Professor of Applied Sciences, is widely recognised as an outstanding and experienced business and finance expert with more than 16 years of international experience. He is also a regular visiting faculty member at LSI Business School Cambodia, and the international MBA program at Coburg University, Germany. His research interests include FinTech,… read more.

Tauseef Ali, PhD, graduated in Biometric Pattern Recognition. He was technical lead on a project called “Balljames” funded by SciSports and also worked on design and implementation of computer vision and machine learning algorithms for application development on embedded systems. He was nominated for the best teacher award in 2014 at the University of Twente in the course… read more.

George Bosire, MBA, Senior Lecturer and BBA Programme Coordinator. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) from the University of Brighton, UK. With extensive academic and industry experience, he has built his career across Kenya, the Netherlands, Ireland, and the UK, earning qualifications from Kenya Polytechnic University College, HAN University, the University… read more.

Emmah Muchoki, MSc, studied Leisure, Tourism and Environment at Wageningen University, the Netherlands, and attained her BSc in Hospitality and Tourism Management in 2007. She became a lecturer at Hemland College, Kenya, in Hospitality and Tourism in 2010, and from 2014 to 2016, she was Head of School of Hospitality, Tourism and Foreign Languages at Hemland College. Emmah is… read more.

Marjon van Opijnen, MSc, MA   obtained her MSc in Business Science from Radboud University, the Netherlands, in 1996 and took a second MA in Applied Ethics in 2009 at Utrecht University, also in the Netherlands. Her main professional focus is social sustainability and justice… read more.

Andreas Ooijer, MSc, graduated from Erasmus University, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He is a passionate lecturer, who develops and teaches courses and in-company workshops based on 15+ years of business experience. Developing and teaching bachelor's and master's courses, academic supervision of bachelor's thesis projects, developing course manuals, designing exams and… read more.

Taoufik Samaka, DBA, is a procurement and operations professional who, since 2001, has held managerial positions in the renowned telecom corporates sector with assignments mainly in emerging markets. He is Adjunct Professor for MBA programmes at Webster University. At Wittenborg, Taoufik holds the position of Senior Lecturer. He holds DBA and EMBA degrees from Toulouse… read more.

Mercedes Bertotto, PhD, is a Lecturer and Doctor of Engineering with a strong background in data science, particularly in machine learning, feature selection, pre-treatment and exploratory data analysis. Specialising in chemometrics at Wageningen University & Research, she conducted data analyses to optimise predictive models and gained experience in designing experiments… read more.

Vanessa de Oliveira Menezes, PhD, Associate Professor of Applied Sciences, holds a bachelor's degree in Tourism from UNIOESTE, Brazil, and continued with a specialisation in Human Resources Management at the Federal University of Paraná, Brazil. She earned a master’s degree in Tourism and Hotels Management at Universidad de Extremadura, Spain, and a PhD in Business Management… read more.

Robert Muster, MSc, Lecturer, is a Data Science Researcher and Teacher with expertise in data science, statistics, research methods for social sciences, artificial intelligence, network science, business analytics, digital transformation, marketing, computer programming, information management, open science and digital education. He is currently finalising his doctoral… read more.

Tallal Javied, PhD, completed his studies in industrial and electrical engineering (Dr.-Ing.) with several years of leadership experience in team management, project management, consulting and strategy. Author of more than 15 publications, his areas of expertise are: Energy Management and Energy Systems, Lean and sustainable production in industry 4.0, Quality and Project… read more.

Katie Ireland, MSc, Lecturer, holds a BSc in Business and Management, an MSc in Advanced Marketing Management and an MSc in Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology. Alongside her academic work, Ireland is the CEO and Executive Flourishing Coach at Re-Humanise, a global consultancy helping individuals and organisations unlock their human potential, with key clients… read more.

Ogul Zengingonul, PhD, has worked for 28 years at the Dokuz Eylul and İstanbul Universities, specialising in Social and Behavioural Psychology in Work Place and Social Life. He was awarded a research post from London Metropolitan University and obtained his PhD degree accordingly. Since 2008, his major and collaborative studies combined with Neuropsychology. He has delivered… read more.

Andreas Kallmunzer, PhD, has been Professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management at Excelia Business School, La Rochelle, France, since 2019. Originally from Germany, he holds a habilitation and a PhD in business management from the University of Innsbruck, Austria. He has completed numerous research stays at international business schools and universities, including… read more.

Mustafa Üc, PhD, received his doctoral degree in Business Administration at the Afyon Kocatepe University, Turkey, in 2009, and prior to that was a Research Fellow at the University of Bremen, Germany, via the Erasmus programme. He worked in the private and public sectors on the accounting staff and as manager and has served as a lecturer of accounting at Epoka University,… read more.

Adam Jones, PhD, is a Principal Lecturer of Strategy and Marketing. In 2021, Adam was awarded his PhD from the School of Applied Social Science at the University of Brighton titled, "How are carbon-light holidays possible? a social practice analysis of no-flight holidays." He has a wealth of commercial knowledge gained from working at a senior strategic level in a FTSE… read more.

Colin Mackenzie, DBA, FHEA, Associate Professor of Applied Sciences, is an experienced businessman and entrepreneur. He has acted at board level in a variety… read more.

Hind Albasry, PhD, received a BS degree in electrical and electronic engineering (communication engineering) from the University of Al-Fateh, Tripoli, Libya, in 2003; an MS degree in communication network planning and management computer from the University of Portsmouth, U.K., in 2009; and a PhD degree in electronic engineering (communication engineering) from the University… read more.

Amy M. Abdou, MA, MA, Senior Lecturer, teaches at Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences and IES Study Abroad. She is also a PhD candidate in the department of Science Business Innovation at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. Amy’s research focuses the impact of subsidised social entrepreneurship on migrant communities in Amsterdam Zuidoost. She is frequently invited to… read more.

Neha Basnet, PhD, obtained her doctor of philosophy degree and defended her thesis, Young rural-urban migrants' transition from education to work in Kathmandu, Nepal, in 2022. Using qualitative longitudinal research methods in conjunction with timeline mapping exercises, she studied young rural-urban migrants working at call centres and their transition from education… read more.

Nnamdi Oguji, PhD, MSc (Tech), MSc, is an experienced professional with more than nine years’ experience working as a Business Development Expert, Senior Business Analyst and Supply Chain Planner for KONE Corporation. He is also an international business (IB) researcher with research interests in international entry strategies, emerging markets, supply chain management,… read more.

Natália Leal, PhD, MA, Lic., Assistant Professor of Applied Sciences, is an Executive, Career and Life Coach. She has over 20 years of work experience across different countries and sectors, from academia and research, to policy making and international non-governmental organisations management. She is the former Chief Executive of WFTO and a former Lecturer at the University… read more.

Cha-Hsuan Liu, PhD, Associate Professor of Applied Sciences, is a versatile and accomplished professional with a multi-disciplinary background. She has significant expertise in healthcare, education, social policy, management and innovation. She is active in both academia and the public sector. She's currently a Research Fellow at the International Institute for Asian Studies… read more.

Mats Carlbäck, PhD, holds a PhD in Business Administration, School of Business, Economics and Law from the University of Gothenburg. Next to his appointment at Wittenborg, he is an assistant professor at the School of Culinary Art, Meal Science and Hospitality at Örebro University in Sweden. Previously, he has held managerial roles in Sweden and the UK and owned and managed… read more.

Zijian Wang, MSc, Senior Lecturer, is a generalist in international business. His teaching has reached over 2,500 students from 100+ nationalities. Alongside his academic career, he runs a tech company, Honey Badger Technologies, in the city centre of Amsterdam, which focuses on state-of-the-art cloud computing. Zijian's research interests include organisational redesign,… read more.

Isaac Acheampong, PhD, Assistant Professor of Applied Sciences, is a Fellow of the Advance HE Academy. He holds a PhD in Entrepreneurship and Business Strategy from California University FCE, an MBA from the University of Bradford (UK), an MSc in Strategic Management from Erasmus University (Netherlands), a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education from Falmouth University… read more.

Nikita Pahwa, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Applied Sciences and Programme Coordinator at Wittenborg. She holds a PhD in Economics and has a decade of teaching and research experience. She began her teaching career in 2012 and has taught a variety of bachelor's and master's subjects. Before joining Wittenborg, she created content, managed a team and taught research and… read more.

Johan Winbladh, PhD, is currently working on research for policy improvements and has a background in Management Consulting at Ernst & Young (now EY) in Stockholm, Sweden, and other locations in Europe and the US. At Ernst & Young, he was responsible for project management on various projects for international institutions running projects for quality assurance in… read more.

Usman Ahmad, PhD, is a dedicated senior lecturer and enthusiastic researcher with a solid background in both industry and academia. His industrial experience includes proficiency in budgeting, accountancy and data management. In academia, Usman has excelled in teaching undergraduate and graduate courses, module management and has played a key role in developing a new academic… read more.

Selcuk Yaglikci, MBA, a graduate of Marmara University in Economics with an MBA from Maryville University, U.S, has worked in the FMCG sector for over 20 years. He started his career at the Unilever sales department in 1994, then moved to the Coca-Cola Company where he held various types of marketing roles. He… read more.

Vajihe Shojaei, PhD, Assistant Professor of Applied Sciences, has a strong international background in academia and industry. She holds a PhD in International Marketing, an MBA, and a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering. With over ten years of experience in higher education, she teaches a range of business, management and research-related modules, with a focus on… read more.

Jian Liu, PhD, Erasmus+ Project Administrator & Researcher, has a strong academic background in Business Administration, with a specialised focus on the digital innovation ecosystem and entrepreneurship. He obtained his PhD at the University of Twente, where his research examines entrepreneurial team resilience amid adversity.