Faculty Involved in Research at Wittenborg

Ronald Tuninga, PhD, is Rector at Wittenborg and an internationally recognised academic leader in business and management education. He brings extensive experience from senior leadership positions across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas, as well as a distinguished career as professor, researcher and consultant. In addition to his role at Wittenborg, he is Senior Advisor to the Executive Board of Audencia Business School in Nantes and Emeritus Professor at Kingston University London, and serves on advisory boards of several international business schools. Previously, he was Vice President for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at AACSB International, contributing to advancing global standards of business education. He has held leadership and faculty roles at institutions including Kingston University London, Hult International Business School, the Open University of the Netherlands, Maastricht School of Management, Nyenrode Business University and HAN University of Applied Sciences, reflecting a consistent commitment to building high-quality, internationally oriented business education programs and mentoring the next generation of academics and practitioners. His research has been published in numerous books and more than 70 academic journals and conference proceedings, including the Journal of Macromarketing, Managerial and Decision Economics, Scandinavian International Business Review and the South African Journal of Business Management. He currently serves as Senior Associate Editor of the Journal of Global Marketing and sits on the editorial board of Case Focus. Over the years, he has worked on projects funded by the World Bank, European Union, United Nations and the Dutch government, and provided consultancy services for international companies including Melitta North America and GE, and has been a partner at the Holland Consulting Group. His governance experience includes serving as President of the International Management Development Association, Vice-Chair of the International Management Board of the Association of MBAs (AMBA) and Chair of AMBA’s Faculty of Assessors, and he has participated in more than 50 global accreditation and assessment teams, influencing the development of business schools worldwide. His research interests focus on international business education, SME internationalisation and performance, international entrepreneurship, marketing, service internationalisation and sustainable global business practices. With a PhD from Temple University (Philadelphia, USA) and multiple advanced degrees in economics, marketing and international business, he continues to shape the future of global management education.

Professor Ad Kil, PhD, is the Vice President Applied Research at Wittenborg. He is also Professor of Professional Research Didactics and Director of Executive PhD Programmes at Nyenrode Business University, the Netherlands, and Chendu, China, and Professor of Research at the Nordic International Management Institute, China. He is a former HRD professor at Nottingham Law School, UK, and former Master of Conflict Management Research Manager, Maastricht University Law School. Ad is a senior lecturer at the Dutch Bar Association (NOvA), where he developed the Advocacy Skills Programme, and Radboud University Law School, the Netherlands. 

Kriszta Kaspers-Rostas, MSc, completed her bachelor's studies at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration in Finance and Banking at the Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. In the second year of her bachelor's studies, she was an Erasmus student at Windesheim University of Applied Sciences studying International Business and Languages. During this Erasmus year, she was introduced to international business studies, which became her main field of interest. Later, she graduated with a Master of Science in International Business and Economics, International Management at Utrecht University, School of Economics. At Wittenborg she is involved in a range of activities concerning quality management of education and accreditations, assurance of learning and quality maintenance.

Gilbert Silvius, PhD, is an experienced lecturer, researcher and consultant, with a focus on project management and information management. He has over 20 years’ experience in organisational change and IT projects and is a member of the international enable2change network. Gilbert has published over a 100 academic papers and several books, and supervises academic research at several universities across Europe. He initiated and developed the first MSc in Project Management programme in the Netherlands and is considered a leading expert in the field of sustainable project management. After a 12-year career in the armed services, Gilbert Silvius joined Getronics as a consultant on business and IT alignment and project manager. He led a division of Getronics Consulting before joining HU University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands, in 2002 as the first professor at HU Business School. He holds a PhD in information sciences from Utrecht University, the Netherlands, and master’s degrees in economics and business administration. Gilbert is the 2013 recipient of the Sustainability Award of the Green Project Management organisation and an honorary fellow of the International Information Management Association.

Alexander Bauer, PhD, has more than a decade of international sales and management experience. Before he joined academia in 2014, he worked as an International Sales Manager – leading global sales teams, conducting negotiations on a global level with customers and suppliers in North and South America, Europe and Asia. He studied Business Management with a major in Marketing and Sales in Germany and Estonia, holds a PhD in International Business Management and studies European Law besides his full-time job. Originally from Germany, Alexander settled down in Vienna, Austria, but spent many years abroad in the US, Belgium, Estonia, UK, Malaysia, Sweden, Mexico and the Netherlands. After a career as an International Sales Manager, Alexander joined academia and brought his practical sales and management experience into the classroom – first in the Netherlands and later back in Austria. Besides being a lecturer at Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences, he is also an Associate Lecturer in Austria, Germany and Slovenia and a Trainer for Presentation Skills, Rhetoric and Sales Trainings. His current research focuses on the utilisation of sales competition in sales trainings/sales education and the use of sales labs in sales trainings and the impact of the pandemic on businesses and sales in Austria. He is also a keynote speaker at international conferences.

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 speak on topics related to social entrepreneurship and leadership.

Aydan Holtrigter, MA, MBA, Research Centre Manager, holds two Master of Arts degrees: one in International Relations and Diplomacy from Baku State University (Azerbaijan) and another in International Security Studies from the University of Bergamo (Italy). She also earned an MBA with distinction from Wittenborg. With nearly five years' experience in the major events industry, Aydan developed strong skills in communication, stakeholder engagement and team management. She began her career in the international relations department of the Baku Old City Administration (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), which led to key roles in large-scale events such as the 2015 European Games and the 2016 Islamic Solidarity Games, where she served as a venue general manager. In these roles she coordinated multidisciplinary teams, oversaw venue operations, delivered training programmes and acted as the primary liaison with external stakeholders. As an Operational Readiness Consultant, Aydan supported major international events — including Expo 2020 Dubai and the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics — by planning and delivering readiness activities such as train-the-trainer sessions, tabletop exercises and simulations. Since January 2021, Aydan has been with Wittenborg, initially as EU Project Coordinator and now as Research Centre Manager. She leads international academic collaborations, manages research grants and projects and oversees Wittenborg's Erasmus office. Aydan is a PMI-certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

Amal Abi Orm, MBA, is a Finance Administrator at Wittenborg. She holds master’s degrees in finance and business administration from Wittenborg and the Modern University for Business & Science, respectively. She began her professional career two decades ago in Lebanon as an Executive Assistant and Accountant and has since advanced through roles in administration and accounting in Lebanon and Kuwait. Orm joined Wittenborg as a Finance Administrator in February 2023, and in early 2024 she expanded her responsibilities by joining the Research Centre team, focusing on project budgeting, reporting, financial payments and verification.

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.

Leo Dana, PhD, Senior Lecturer of Applied Sciences, started at Wittenborg in 2019. Previously, he was an employee of McGill University and Concordia in Montreal, Canada, and deputy director of the IB MBA at Nanyang, Singapore. He is also Professor at Montpellier Business School, France, and a member of the Entrepreneurship & Innovation chair, which is part of LabEx Entrepreneurship - University of Montpellier. This “laboratory of excellence” is funded by the French government in recognition of high-level research initiatives in human and natural sciences.