COUNSELLOR

Dr Helen Chen

Faculty

Qualification

Ph.D. University of Missouri, St. Louis, Industrial/Organizational Psychology

B.A. (Honors) McDaniel College, Psychology

Teaching and Scholarly Interests:

Human Resource Management, Leadership Development, Managerial Skills Development, Communication & Interpersonal Skill, Recruitment & Selection, Training & Development, Group Dynamics;

Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Personality Psychology;

Biography:

Dr. Helen Chen received the doctoral degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from University of Missouri, St, Louis. Dr. Chen has been an HR practitioner for nearly two decades. Her consulting practices spans the globe focusing on working with large corporations to address talent management needs such as assessment, executive hiring, succession planning, leadership development, and coaching.

Dr. Chen also serves as sessional faculty at McMaster University, DeGroote School of Business, teaching in both the undergraduate Commerce and MBA programs.

Sameera Hassan

Faculty

Qualification

BCom., Karachi University

MBA., Institute of Business Administration, Karachi,

MSc Accounting., Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto.

Teaching and Scholarly Interests:

Accounting and Finance

Biography:

Ms. Hassan has 12 years of Adjunct teaching experience with Accounting and Finance in Canada and Middle East. Prior to this, she worked as an Assistant Manager, Analyst at HSBC Investment Banking. Her research interest is in the area of Financial Disclosures. She also serves on non-profit boards as her contribution towards the community.

Dr Artie Ng

Dean, International Business University

Qualification

Ph.D. University of Glasgow, UK

M.Eng. University of Waterloo, Canada

M.B.A. University of Toronto, Canada

MSc. California State University, Fresno, U.S.

BSc. California State University, Fresno, U.S.

Teaching and Scholarly Interests:

Financial Regulation and Compliance; Intellectual Capital; Sustainable Finance and Investment; Policy for Global Sustainability

Biography:

Dr. Artie Ng is the Inaugural Dean of International Business University overseeing program development and management as well as related quality assurance. Dr Ng has over 20 years working in the tertiary education sector with a wide range of duties, including teaching undergraduate and graduate-level courses, managing program accreditations, as well as research funding and administration. In addition to his extended experience in managing degree programs across disciplines, he conducts interdisciplinary research on performance of entrepreneurial firms, green finance as well as policy for global sustainability. With an interest in research collaboration, he has held Visiting Professor positions with universities in Asia and Europe. He was previously appointed as a Senior Research Fellow with the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy at the University of Waterloo, Canada. He is a founding member with the Research Centre for Green Energy, Transport and Building and the Centre for Ageing and Healthcare Management Research, both at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University funded by the Research Grants Council. He has been an international associate with the Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research (CSEAR) at the University of St Andrews, Scotland.

Besides edited books, conference papers and consultancy reports, his publications appear in various impactful journals, including Energy Policy, Journal of Cleaner Production, Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, Sustainability Accounting, Management & Policy Journal as well as Technological Forecasting & Social Change. He serves in the editorial boards of Accounting Forum, Journal of Financial Regulation & Compliance, International Journal of Climate Change Strategies & Management, International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, as well as Social & Environmental Accountability Journal.

Prior to his academic appointments, Dr Ng was as an analyst with multinational firms in the independent energy sector for project finance as well as mergers and acquisitions of power generating facilities in collaboration with multilateral agencies, such as ADB and IFC. He performed due diligence and risk assessments for these projects. He is a qualified member with CPA Canada and a Fellow with CIMA UK.

Dr Rahim Karim

Member of Board of Governors

Qualification

BSc, DC, MBA, CHE, ICD.D

Biography:

Dr. Rahim Karim is the President & CEO of the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine (CCNM), a pan Canadian academic institution with campus locations in Toronto, Ontario and Metro Vancouver, British Columbia. He is responsible for providing high-level leadership and direction to all areas of the College, including delivery of the naturopathic program, clinical education, and research. Additionally, he acts as the liaison with the naturopathic profession’s various associations, licensing bodies, accreditation agencies and external partners.
For over two decades, Dr. Karim has held a variety of progressive leadership and faculty roles including senior leadership positions. Hehas an abundance of global leadership experience in the education and health sectors.Most recently, he was Associate Vice President at Centennial College in Toronto with cross-functional strategic and academic institutional responsibilities. Prior to this, Dr. Karim served as Dean, School of Community and Health Studies at Centennial and was accountable for the academic quality and integrity of all health and community studies programming across three campuses including ancillary operations.
An award-winning administrator, educator and clinician, Dr. Karim has also operated successful multidisciplinary health clinics, published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at various local and international conferences. He has completed professional coursework in Medical Education (AMEE), Interprofessional Education (Toronto) and Strategic Decision and Risk Management (Stanford).
He has significant governance and external committee experience and is an active volunteer within the community. Dr. Karim is the recipient of the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers (Canadian Honour) from the Governor General of Canada.

Simon Chang

Qualification

Ph.D. Quantitative Marketing, Smith School of Business, Queen’s University (3rd year, ABD)
M.B.A., Smith School of Business, Queen’s University
M.M.A., Smith School of Business, Queen’s University
CPA,CMA., Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario
B.Comm (hons)., Toronto Metropolitan University

Teaching and Scholarly Interests:

Influencer marketing, digital marketing, social media communication

Biography:

Simon Chang is a business analytics expert and has taught courses in financial analytics, AI in Marketing and business accounting programs. He is also a PhD Candidate (3rd year, ABD) at Smith School of Business at Queen’s University in Kingston where he specializes in marketing analytics looking at social media analytics, deep sentiment analysis, customer lifetime value projection and marketing mix modelling. He has worked for some of the leading companies in the world including Starbucks Coffee Company and Mercedes-Benz.
Simon is passionate about sharing his business analytics knowledge to help businesses to realize their full potential. He is interested in applying the latest techniques and methods in solving business problems to provide businesses with the ‘upper hand’ above their competitions. He has demonstrated his ability to teach, mentor and elevate his students career trajectory by showing the relevance of their tasks to the broader analytics framework. Thereby broadening the students perspectives in the field of data analytics while mastering the necessary skills to be successful in the field.

Yelena Stepanyan

Faculty

Qualification

MBA, University of Western Ontario
BS, Electronics Engineering, National Polytechnic University of Armenia
CFA, CFA Institute, Virginia, United States

Teaching and Scholarly Interests:

Finance, Investments, Economics, Responsible (ESG) Investing, Capital Markets

Biography:

Yelena Stepanyan is the Head of Investments at Knowledge First Financial where she oversees about $7 billion of assets under management. Yelena has extensive experience in investment management – development of investment strategy, investment fund development and launch, portfolio optimization, strategic and tactical asset allocation, market analysis, risk management, and sales force education.
She has also consulted large financial institutions on various issues within wealth management and capital markets business. In her home country, Armenia, Yelena worked with foreign investors and the government to help privatize major state enterprises.
Yelena currently serves as the Chair of the Institutional Asset Management Committee of the CFA Society Toronto. She also serves on the User Advisory Committee of the Accounting Standards Board.

Dr. Robert Compton

Faculty

Qualification

Ph.D. Political Science, State University of New York, Binghamton, U.S.
M.P.A. Policy Analysis, State University of New York, Binghamton, U.S.
M.A. Political Science, Bowling Green State University, US
B.A. International Studies, Bowie State University, US

Teaching and Scholarly Interests:

Political Development in Asia and Africa; International Political Economy; Comparative Regionalism; and Politics of the Global South

Biography:

Dr. Robert Compton, a professor at the State University of New York, College at Oneonta, since 2001 focuses on political development and political economy. He has published several books and articles in the areas of political economy and political development, African politics, Asian politics, and comparative regionalism. He teaches courses in International Political Economy; the Model United Nations; Politics of Nation Building; Asian Politics; and Race, Gender, Class and Culture.

In 2008, he was a Fulbright Scholar to the University of Zimbabwe. He has also provided consulting services with SUNY projects involving US AID funded parliamentary strengthening projects in Zimbabwe and Uganda. in addition to labor-management issues and practices that fit within the theme of the courses taught. If you Google my name along with “political science”, you will see my books, articles, speeches, and activities. You will find me reasonable, flexible, knowledgeable, but serious about learning.

Melanie Lang

Education Consultant, Academic Programs

Biography:

Melanie Lang is Principal at Melanie Lang Consulting and was the Founding Executive Director of The John F. Wood Centre for Business and Student Enterprise at the University of Guelph. She has more than 15 years’ experience as a strategic and collaborative academic and business leader while serving her community and creating economic development initiatives through diverse forms of scholarship, collaborative research projects, and community-engaged programs. She has developed educational programs, secured innovative sources of funding, and demonstrated community leadership.

Throughout her career, she has played a pivotal role in advancing an innovative and entrepreneurial culture, while creating authentic partnerships with individuals, community partners, government agencies, and industry. She is an engaged business professional and an academic sector advocate who has earned a reputation of being industry-oriented and socially progressive.

Melanie’s expertise comes from years of experience combined with an instinct that can’t be taught. She’s an experienced facilitator, offers customized management consulting services, works with individuals and teams to help identify organizational pain points, and helps develop business and strategic plans. Melanie is able to identify the core problem and find the solution through customized curriculum and workshops with an emphasis on clarity, simplicity, and elegant problem-solving.

Within the Guelph-Wellington area, she has served on many boards and committees, including Give some Foundation, the Guelph Chamber of Commerce (including Board Chair); Center Wellington Community Foundation; Guelph Wellington Business Enterprise Centre; IMPACT! The Co-operators
Youth Program for Sustainability Leadership; 4H Ontario Board; and Centre Wellington Co-operative Preschool. Melanie was named one of the City of Guelph’s ‘Top 40 Under 40’ in 2012 for her role as an educator and community developer and was recognized as a 2015 and 2016 YMCA-YWCA Woman of
Distinction nominee for Education and Training and Business and Entrepreneurship.

Her innovative and entrepreneurial approach to program and economic development, along with her ability to seek outside-the-box solutions, has paved the road for creating a strong and active presence in the local community. Throughout her years of service, Melanie’s vision, passion, and initiative have
helped enhance experiential learning opportunities for students, while contributing to the healthy growth and development of businesses and organizations in the surrounding community.

Swarna Bakshi Saini

Registrar & Director of Enrolment Service

Biography:

Swarna is an internationally experienced higher education professional specializing in varied aspects of student management and administration. Having worked the entire spectrum from core academics to education management and leadership, she has a holistic understanding of higher education system and student management in different parts of the world.

She brings extensive experience in private post-secondary education industry and holds a Master’s in Business Administration. Prior to IBU, she worked as the Campus Registrar with Yorkville University.

Swarna is passionate about supporting students focused on changing their lives and intends to play a significant role in changing the face of Canadian higher education industry while leveraging the full potential of IBU’s personalized and flexible education model.

Funmi Aina

Enrolment Officer

Biography:

Feridun Hamdullahpur

Chancellor

Biography:

Feridun Hamdullahpur has been an engineer, educator and leader over the span of his more than 35 year career in research and higher education. He has served as President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Waterloo since 2010. A professor of mechanical engineering, Hamdullahpur holds a PhD in chemical engineering from the Technical University of Nova Scotia after earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from the Technical University of Istanbul. As President of the University of Waterloo, he devoted his tenure to fostering excellence in academics and research, with a dedication to developing an innovative culture committed to experiential education. Through his stewardship, the University of Waterloo has continued its legacy as Canada’s innovation university. Throughout his career, Feridun Hamdullahpur has been an active researcher in thermo-fluids and energy engineering, a passionate teacher and an academic administrator. He has authored hundreds of scientific and academic publications and supervised over 50 graduate students. He was named a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering in 2014. He has served in various academic and administrative roles, including as a Vice-President Academic and Provost at the University of Waterloo. He continues to serve as Chair of the Waterloo Global Science Initiative since 2016; an active member of the Sorbonne Université Strategic Orientation Committee since 2014; as a member of the King Abdulaziz University International Advisory Board since 2017; and as a member of the Board of Trustees since 2020 at World Education Services. He was named a Specially Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) in 2018. He was awarded the l’insigne de chevalier des Palmes Académiques by the French Republic in February 2020, and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in January 2013.

Jason Gangaram

Biography:

Jason Gangaram became the inaugural Director of Recruitment, Admissions and Partnerships at IBU in 2022.

Prior to joining at IBU, Jason was a Director of Admissions at CDI College, one of the largest independent colleges in Canada. He oversaw the development and implementation of recruitment and yield activities for domestic and international students. He is credited with streamlining the admissions process, developing specialized recruitment programs, and achieving significant increases in both applicant pool and yield rates while drawing from an increasingly diverse demographic group. He also spent over 5 years in education management supporting student outcomes via academics as a Campus Director at CDI College. He has supported students throughout the student lifecycle from the day they apply to the day they got into their new career post-graduation. He has been part of higher education as a senior leader for over a decade supporting students, stakeholders, communities, and governments.

Jason also serves as an Executive Director on the Academic Platform for the Urban Economy Forum (UN-Habitat). Here he identifies and contextualizes themes to promote innovative approaches and solutions to urban governance, management, and development that assist city leaders in guiding their cities towards economically, socially, and environmentally prosperous urban futures internationally.

Jason always knew education is the game changer in life. So, he decided to help people build their brand so they can market and sell themselves. His goal is to help people determine how their education plan at IBU is specific, measurable, achievable and compatible with their long-term life goals. His passion is to help people from all walks of life find their way forward. Our Recruitment Team’s vision is to be the best and Jason is committed to doing everything he can to exceed expectations.

Jason received his Bachelor of Commerce (double major) from Ryerson University and is currently pursuing his MBA from the Ted Rogers School of Management.

Julien Papon

Qualification

MBA, Kellogg School of Management & Schulich School of Business

MSc – Management of Industrial Systems, Ecole Centrale Paris

MSc – Mechanical & Electro-mechanical Engineering, Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Saint-Etienne

P.Eng. license holder

Teaching and Scholarly Interests:

Entrepreneurship (with a specific interest in alignment between founder’s personal purpose & venture vision, cofounders team dynamics, product/market fit strategy, market/technical risk profile, resource scarcity management, corporate development & strategic partnerships)

Venture Capital & Private Equity

Business

International Business

Biography:

Julien Papon is a former automotive manufacturing executive who turned entrepreneur. Julien founded luxury cycling brand Vitess, and more recently VitessX, a unique private community of entrepreneurs, business owners & corporate leaders. Outside of IBU, Julien is also teaching a keystone course on Technology Entrepreneurship at the Schulich School of Business in partnership with the Lassonde School of Engineering (York University). Julien was cycling columnist for the Toronto Star and the Globe&Mail; he was on the board of directors of the Ontario Cycling Association and has been involved with various other not-for-profit organizations. Prior to Vitess, Julien was Managing Director at Globanex Corporation. He advised clients on Foreign Direct Investments & international technology transfers. He also founded Nexxit Capital, a specialty boutique focusing on deal origination & advisory work for LPs in the Secondaries Market. Before that, Julien was COO at an advanced manufacturing firm whose clients included Fortune 100 companies. Before being recruited to grow that business, he was heading a manufacturing division at a leading automotive supplier. His team, located throughout NAFTA & Europe, successful launched programs for BMW, Audi, GM, Ford, Honda & FCA. His direct responsibilities covered strategic planning, program management, manufacturing engineering & production readiness. His team invested well over $100M in CapEx. He is both French & Canadian. He holds a M. Sc. in Mechanical & Electro-Mechanical Engineering & a M. Sc. in Management of Industrial Systems from ENISE and Ecole Centrale in France, and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business & the Kellogg School of Management. He is a licensed P.Eng. in Ontario.

Asiye Tatli

Qualification

M.B.A., Royal Roads University, Canada

Teaching and Training Adults Certificate, George Brown College, Canada

Post Graduate Diploma, Human Resources Management Seneca College, Canada

B.A., Economics, Dokuz Eylul University, Turkey

Teaching and Scholarly Interests:

Financial Foundations and Management, Managerial and Financial Accounting, Microeconomics
Macroeconomics

Biography:

Asiye Tatli is a seasoned and accomplished administrator with 25 years of experience in corporate strategic planning, financial management, human resources management, operational management, and leadership. Mrs. Tatli draws on this rich background to inform her teaching and scholarly work. She is thrilled to use her experience, knowledge, and education to teach new upcoming trends in the Business field. Before joining International Business University, she taught in the various community colleges in Ontario. She believes each and every student is different. She concentrates on individual learning techniques to make them fully confident.

Dr Jenny (Mathews) Benoy

Qualification

PhD., International Business, University of Limerick, Ireland

M.M.S., Human Resource Management, University of Mumbai, India

B.Com., Exports & Imports, Industrial Psychology, University of Mumbai, India

Teaching and Scholarly Interests:

International Business; International Human Resource Management; Strategy Management; Talent Management; Cross-Cultural Management; Learning & Development; Organization Behavior

Biography:

Dr Jenny Benoy has 12+ years of experience in research, consultancy, teaching and project based work in International Business, Human Resource Management, Strategy Mapping, Transformation Strategy, Talent Management, and Learning and Development. Prior to joining the IBU Faculty, Dr. Jenny has taught in an Assistant Professor, Visiting Lecturer, and Adjunct Faculty capacities for Universities in India, Ireland, and Canada. She has taught numerous courses, such as Research Methods, Human Resource Management, Strategy Management, Organization Behavior, Training and Development, and Introduction to Business at the Bachelor, and Master level. She has supervised research projects/dissertations both for graduates and post- graduates. She has also served as the Head of the Undergraduate Management Studies Department for 6 years in India. She is passionate about pursuing impactful research and brings her industry experience to the classroom.

Mehroz Nida Dilshad

Qualification

Ed.D., Higher Education & Finance, Liverpool University, UK (in progress – thesis submitted)

MSc International Economics, Banking and Finance, Cardiff University, UK

BBA (Hons) Finance, Lahore School of Economics, Pakistan

Awarded: Fellowship, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, UK (2020)

Teaching and Scholarly Interests:

Business; International Economics, Accounting, Banking, Finance

Biography:

Ms. Dilshad is a research-active bilingual and determined finance, banking, and economics graduate with over 9 years of teaching experience in higher education. Prior to joining the IBU faculty, Ms. Dilshad taught at Curtin University, Dubai (AACBS accredited university) for 5 years. She has taught numerous courses such as Financial Reporting, Portfolio Management, Auditing, Assurance and Risk Assessment, Accounting-the Language of Business, Introduction to Accounting, Corporate Finance, Financial Accounting, Introduction to Financial Markets and Instruments, Introductory Economics, Introduction to Finance Principles, International Finance, Business Processes and Internal Controls at the undergraduate level. She has also developed curriculum at foundation level. She was also a unit coordinator of business course at foundation level. She has supervised internship programs of business students as well. She has also taught at Murdoch University, Dubai, 6 years as a full-time and adjunct faculty to undergraduates. She is also a reviewer of business journals; Asian Journal of Economics, Business and Management, Journal of Economics, Management and Trade, Frontiers in Psychology, and Open Science Journal.

Joanne Shoveller

President & Vice-Chancellor

Biography:

IBU President and Vice Chancellor since January 1st 2022, Joanne served previously as Vice President of Advancement at the University of Waterloo (2017-2021). Prior to this, she held progressive roles in Part-Time and Continuing Education, University Advancement and the Ivey Business School at Western University. In 1997 she was assigned to Hong Kong as part of the small team that founded Ivey’s Asian campus, Executive MBA, research, case-writing and fundraising programs. In 2001 she influenced the successful closure of the Ivey Campaign then assumed leadership of the Ivey MBA program until 2004, diversifying and strengthening its student cohort and steering curriculum development. Joanne led the advancement teams at the University of Guelph (2004-2012) and INSEAD Business School in France (2012-2016), building alumni, donor and corporate relations, multiplying charitable giving, contributing to strategic direction and launching two capital campaigns. A volunteer with organizations based in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa, she brings a rich international perspective to her work, along with unique insights into the student, faculty, employer and alumni experience. She holds a BA from Wilfrid Laurier University and MBA from Ivey Business School, Western University.

Joanne’s strategic focus for IBU is to develop an exceptional accessible, flexible and personalized learning experience for a diverse student body, building a strong academic platform with faculty devoted to a rich teaching experience, and establishing strong business and government partnerships.

Serdar Mutlu

Founder

Biography:

Serdar graduated from University of Istanbul in 1981 with Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree. He received his MSc and PhD from Bristol University and worked there as a lecturer. During his time at Bristol, he published a range of articles and received numerous research grants, receiving the Colgate Research Award in 1992. Returning to Istanbul, to take on the position of Vice-Dean at Istanbul University’s Faculty of Dentistry. He established the Newsletter of the International Academy of Periodontology and served as its editor for 5 years.
In 1996, Serdar co-founded Istanbul Bilgi University. He served there in a variety of administrative positions, including as Vice President of Board of Governors. Bilgi has become part of the Laureate Universities Network and now has more than 30.000 students.

Serdar co-founded Kemer Schools and developed its high school programme in conjunction with the Ministry of Education in the province of Manitoba. Upon his arrival in Canada in 2012, he has devoted himself to International Business University. After several years shaping IBU’s distinctive mission and vision, he gathered together IBU’s multifaceted team who have helped him bring his dream of an independent university based in Canada to fruition.

Wendy Cukier

Member of Advisory Board

Biography:

Wendy Cukier has over 30 years as a consultant in the technology sector beginning her career doing market research, forecasting and strategy development with the Institute for the Future (Menlo Park), International Data Corporation and Don Tapscott’s Alliance for Converging Technologies. She is the coauthor of Innovation Nation: From Java to Jurassic Park and more than 200 articles on dimensions of technology adoption, innovation and inclusion. Wendy has worked with clients across sectors on strategy development and has led the development of curriculum for several post secondary institutions. She is a full professor in Entrepreneurship and Strategy with more than thirty years experience in teaching, administration and research and leads a range of large scale research projects. She holds a PhD in Management Science (York University), MBA (University of Toronto), MA (University of Toronto) as well as two honorary doctorates (Laval University) (Concordia).

Mark Lovewell

Former Founding Provost & Vice President, Member of Advisory Board

Biography:

Mark Lovewell did his BA in Economics at the University of Alberta and his MA at the University of Toronto. As a long-time faculty member at Ryerson University, he was involved in the start of Ryerson’s International Economics and Finance undergraduate program. He served as founding director of Ryerson’s humanities-based Arts and Contemporary Studies program, then filled several interim positions, including Chair of the Department of English, Director of the School of Occupational and Public Health, Dean of Arts, and Secretary of Senate. Between 2016 and 2020, he helped develop Ryerson’s new law school. He is a former co-publisher and interim editor-in- chief of the journal of ideas Literary Review of Canada, and author of the first-year text Understanding Economics (McGraw-Hill), now in its 8 th edition.

Mike Sparling

Technology Literacy and Applications, Member of Advisory Board

Biography:

Mike Sparling has spent over 30 years as an academic, researcher, and business leader, with a career that has spanned countries, platforms, companies, and minds. Mike has been a leader in 3 start-up ventures, through 5 investment rounds and participated in 2 successful exits. These ventures have been in the fields of expert systems and consumer behaviour prediction / modification.
Mr. Sparling taught for five years in the MBA program at the Telfer School of Management (University of Ottawa) and two years in the management faculty at Durham College. Mike was the Dean of the Faculty of Business at Seneca College for 4 years, where he led 233 tenured faculty and 350 adjunct faculty delivering graduate and undergraduate education to 11,000 full-time business students from 137 countries.

Mike is a co-founder of the Durham College AI Hub, an applied research center committed to simplifying and accelerating the adoption of artificial intelligence techniques by small and medium enterprises. Mike has been the lead author in a series of research grants focused on AI adoption and implementation of AI-based business solutions, successfully raising over $4 million in research funding. He has been the principal investigator and supervisor of a dozen AI projects. Mike’s research interest is in the field of autonomous and semi-autonomous agents in business management systems.

Mike recently assumed the dual Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer role for Multi-Health Systems Ltd., where he leads strategy, business operations, technology adoption, and research into neuroscience applications of artificial intelligence, blockchain, trusted computing, and homomorphic encryption.

Mehmet Komurcu

Legal Counsel

Biography:

Mehmet Komurcu, has been at Gowling WLG’s Toronto office since 2014. He previously worked as the General Counsel and Group Corporate Secretary of Turk Telekom, Turkey’s incumbent telecom operator, and acting as a director in several companies’ Boards in Turkey. He worked in an international law firm in Istanbul and the Legal and Claims Department of Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), World Bank Group in Washington, DC. Mehmet has three master’s degrees from American and Canadian law schools and a PhD in public international law from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has been published in a number of publications and has spoken at several professional and academic conferences.

Alex Usher

Member of Advisory Board

Biography:

Alex Usher is the President of Higher Education Strategy Associates, a role he has held for over a decade. He is an internationally recognized consultant and expert in post-secondary strategic planning and counselling. He is regularly engaged by Canadian and international clients for projects on student financial aid and access to post-secondary education; rankings, benchmarking and quality measurement in higher education, and development of strategic plans.

Prior to founding Higher Education Strategy Associates, Mr. Usher served as the Director of Educational Policy Institute Canada and as the Director of Research and Program Development at the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation. From 1996 to 1998, Mr. Usher served as a researcher and lobbyist for the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada and before that was the first national director of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations. He holds degrees from McGill University and Carleton University. Mr. Usher is regularly consulted by the media for his expertise, making appearances and providing editorials to a range of publications including The Globe and Mail¸ Macleans, CBC, Radio-Canada, Inside Higher Education and others. He has also authored several scholarly publications, including pieces with Harvard University Press, Oxford University Press, and McGill-Queen’s University Press. He is a frequently requested conference speaker, and has presented at conferences in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Russia, and elsewhere. His internationally read (and free) daily intelligence e-mail, One Thought to Start Your Day , has over 13,000 subscribers.

Yves Brodeur

Member of Board of Directors

Biography:

Ambassador Brodeur was born in Montréal in 1953. He joined the Department of External Affairs and International Trade (now Global Affairs Canada) in 1982 after graduating from Université Laval in Québec City. Mr. Brodeur served abroad as Second Secretary and Vice-Consul in Ankara from 1983 to 1985; First Secretary at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris from 1989 to 1993; Counsellor (political) and Head of the Political Affairs Section at the Permanent Mission of Canada to the European Union in Brussels from 1996 to 2000; and Director of Communications and Spokesperson at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) from 2001 to 2003. He served as Ambassador to the Republic of Turkey with accreditation to the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Georgia and the Republic of Turkmenistan from 2005 to 2007. Ambassador Brodeur was appointed Permanent Representative of Canada to the North Atlantic Council (NATO) in August 2011. In Ottawa, Mr. Brodeur served in the Media Relations Office from 1982 to 1983, as an analyst in the Political and Strategic Analysis Secretariat from 1985 to 1987, as well as in the South, South-East Asia Relations Division in 1987. From 1993 to 1995, he served at the Privy Council Office as Policy Advisor, Foreign Affairs and Defence. He was Chief of Staff to the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1988 to 1989 and Departmental Spokesperson and Press Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 1996. He also served as Director of the Media Relations Office and from 2003 to 2005 was Director General of the Communications Bureau. He then served as Assistant Deputy Minister for the Afghanistan Task Force from October, 2007 to July 2009. Mr. Brodeur served as Assistant Deputy Minister of the International Security Branch and Political Director from August 2009 until his appointment to NATO in 2011. As such he coordinated the G8 political and security agenda during the 2010 Canadien Presidency of the G8. Ambassador Brodeur retired from the Canadian Foreign Service in October 2015. Ambassador Brodeur has been a regular speaker and participant to different forum including l’Université Laval, the Canadian Forces College, Forum Saint-Laurent, the Halifax Forum. He also, contributed to various media activities on Canadian national television as well as to various written media outlets. In 2018, Mr. Brodeur contributed as an international expert to the implementation of NATO’s functional review.

Nurhan Aycan

Member of Board of Directors

Biography:

Nurhan Aycan is a member of the Gowling WLG Firm’s Corporate Finance, M&A, and private equity groups. He has over 20 years of experience dealing with Canadian and international corporate and commercial matters, focusing on assisting high-growth companies. Prior to Gowling WLG, Nurhan served as a general counsel for a large high-growth multinational plastic- products company and as managing director for an international private equity fund focused on distressed turnaround situations. Nurhan is rated as a Top 50 lawyer in each of the mining, energy, and infrastructure sectors by a major Canadian legal directory. He frequently lectures on Canadian securities law, public and private mergers and acquisitions, and resource sector matters.

Najma Ahmed

Member of Board of Governors

Biography:

Dr. Ahmed completed Medical School and General Surgery Residency at McGill University. She holds a PhD in Surgical Infections and Sepsis. Following Residency, Najma pursued fellowship training in Trauma Surgery and Critical Care at the University of Michigan and the University of Toronto. Najma was recruited to St. Michael’s Hospital in the Division of General Surgery in 2001. Her clinical focus and practice is in Acute Care Surgery, Trauma and Critical Care. She has been committed to clinical training processes and outcomes since the beginning of her career. From 2008 until 2018, Najma was the Residency Program Director for General Surgery, responsible for the largest and arguably most complex surgical training program in North America. Under her leadership, the program was known for its stellar clinical and academic training, diversity and engagement of trainees. Najma holds the positions of Vice Chair of Education, Department of Surgery at University of Toronto and Professor of Surgery. In this role, she provides visionary leadership for training success for medical students, residents and fellows, as well as career success of surgeon- teachers within the Department of Surgery. Her contributions to post graduate surgical education have been recognized by numerous awards, including the prestigious Royal College AMS/Donald Richards Wilson Award in 2016. Her scholarly activities relate to Resident duty hours, Resident wellness and the application of a competency based framework to surgical training. In 2019, she joined the Royal College as a Clinician-Educator. She recently was awarded the CMA Canadian Medical Association, Sir Charles Tupper Award for her work on physician advocacy related to gun violence prevention. Najma has provided trusted leadership as Surgeon-in-Chief for the Department over the last many months, and especially during the unprecedented period of the COVID19 pandemic.

Ron Choudhury

Member of Board of Governors

Biography:

Ron Choudhury is a partner in the Tax Group of Miller Thomson LLP and the Lead of the Commodity Tax Specialty Group. Ron has a multi-disciplinary practice that includes corporate income tax advice focused on mergers and acquisitions and public disclosure, executive compensation, international tax structuring, and GST/HST. Ron is also active in the community, having founded the South Asian Bar Association of Toronto and acted as its president, and volunteered on boards of several organizations.

Andrew Heintzman

Member of Board of Governors

Biography:

Andrew Heintzman is a Managing Partner and co-founder of InvestEco Capital. Andrew sits on a number of corporate boards, Acid League, Maple Hill Creamery and Mama Earth Organics. Andrew is the board chair of MakeWay, a director of CanadaHelps, and a Steering Committee member for the Smart Prosperity Institute. He is the author of The New Entrepreneurs: Building a Green Economy for the Future (House of Anansi Press). He has a BA and an MA from McGill University.

Winston Kassim

Member of Board of Governors

Biography:

Winston Kassim is President of Winston Kassim Consulting (WKC), a founding Director and Co- Chair of the Canada-Guyana Chamber of Commerce, and Chair of Global Monitoring for theInternational Development and Relief Foundation (IDRF).Winston is a Member of the Order of Canada (C.M.), the nation’s highest civilian honour forCanadian citizens. He is also a recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for Volunteerism. Winston began his business career with Barclays Bank in the Caribbean before immigrating to Canada in 1975. He then joined Royal Bank of Canada where he enjoyed a distinguished 40 year career, eventually retiring as the executive Head of Performance Management and Business Strategy. Winston is a certified board director and has served on a variety of boards including Royal Bank Barbados Limited, Institute for Canadian Citizenship, Canadian Museum of Indian Civilization, private companies and non-profit organizations. A champion of diversity in the workplace and social justice in the community, Winston has led a number of initiatives to promote a more inclusive environment and culture. He is one of the most highly respected persons of Guyanese descent in Canada, and through his work with IDRF in Guyana, in his native country as well. As a consultant at WKC, Winston advises businesses, associations and charitable organizations on how to improve their strategy, performance and culture. In particular, Winston helps organizations establish powerful strategies, translate that strategy into impactful communications, set meaningful goals that can be monitored and measured, and create governance structures and processes that will ensure a leading-edge culture, brand and performance. Mr. Kassim has advised organizations on business opportunities in Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, the Caribbean, India, South America, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Winston holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA), an Advanced Graduate Diploma in Management (AGDM) and is a Certified Corporate Director, Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D., University of Toronto). He is also a past Chair of the Board of IDRF from 2010 to 2014.

Mona Malon

Member of Board of Governors

Biography:

Mona Malone is Chief Human Resources Officer and Head of People & Culture for BMO Financial Group. As a member of the bank’s Executive Committee, she leads and shapes our efforts to fuel our growth strategy through our most valuable asset – our people.

Throughout her 20 years at BMO, Mona has held a variety of diverse roles in Human Resources and the business including Retail Banking Sales Leader in the Greater Toronto Area, VP Product and Marketing Officer at ePost (a joint venture between Canada post and BMO), Chief HR Officer of Canada’s Personal and Commercial Banking Group and Chief Talent & Learning Officer.
In 2021, Mona was a winner of the Report on Business Best Executive Award. She is also a recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of her community service with youth development organizations.

Mona holds an Honours Business Administration degree from Ivey Business School at University of Western Ontario. She is the Chair of the Advisory Council for the Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership at the Ivey Business School, and a member of the Branksome Hall Board of Governors and The Long Run Initiative Board of Governors. Mona lives in Toronto with her husband and three children.

Alastair James Scott Summerlee

Member of Board of Governors

Biography:

Alastair Summerlee served as president and vice-chancellor of the University of Guelph from 2003 to 2014, interim president and vice-chancellor Carleton University from 2017 to 2018, and professor of Biomedical Sciences from 1989 to 2017. He is currently an adjunct professor in the Sprott Business School at Carleton and a professor emeritus of biomedical science at Guelph. He spent six years on the World University Service of Canada board, where his work there attracted international investment from the governments of Canada, the United Kingdom, and from private individuals. He is part of the global movement to unite universities worldwide in fighting hunger and poverty known as the PUSH Initiative and was the International Quality of Life Laureate at the United Nations in 2012. He has published numerous scientific articles and book chapters, written about teaching and teaching practice, advocated in the media for better conditions for people in refugee camps, and is regularly invited to speak on education, research, accountability, fundraising, and sustainable business. His current research focuses on iron deficiency and simple innovation, known as the Lucky Iron Fish®, which can alleviate the condition for almost 2 billion people worldwide. He is also serving as a special advisor to Carleton on the capital campaign and the interim leader of Education City, which provides educational innovation in the Ottawa region.

Bryan McClure

Qualification

Ph.D. Candidate ABD History, Western University

M.Phil Modern Irish History, Trinity College Dublin

B.A. Honours, Queen’s University

Teaching and Scholarly Interests:

First World War History, Memory Studies, British Imperial and Commonwealth, The Totalitarian Age, Sports History

Biography:

Bryan is currently studying to complete his Ph.D. in history at Western University on the construction of memorials in the British Empire after the First World War. He has worked for six years at Western University and at King’s University at Western as a teaching assistant for European history, international relations, and the history of totalitarianism. He has taught at King’s University as the course instructor of “Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini: The Totalitarian Age.”

Dr Ho Hon Leung

Qualification

Ph.D. McGill University, Sociology

M.A. & B.A. (Honors) Acadia University, Sociology

Teaching and Scholarly Interests:

Ethnic Relations, Migration, Multiculturalism, Comparative Aging, Architecture and Built Environment, Globalization, Time-honored Brands,

Biography:

Dr. Ho Hon Leung received his doctoral degree in Sociology, McGill University, Canada. He is a professor of the Department of Sociology of SUNY Oneonta, U.S.A. His recent work focuses on a cross-cultural comparative project that examines cultural and heritage values of local time-honored restaurants that can stand the test of time. He is the Chair of the Centre for Social Science Research at his college. He is also a co-founder of 4C5M Studio which is an independent research center for the issues in urban space and social life. His publications appear in national and international journals and a good number of book chapters. Co-edited with Prof. Robert Compton and Yaser Robles, his book, entitled Dynamics of Community Formation: Notion of Home and Identity, was published by Palgrave McMillian, UK in 2017. His recent published papers are on Hong Kong style café 港式茶歺庁in relation to place identity, nostalgia, and its potential in Belt and Road Initiative. Leung and his team are also conducting research on Covid-19 issues related to home space use, family resilience, and informal economic in Ghana. He often delivers lectures and organizes workshops in the US, Canada, China, and Hong Kong.

Dr Peter Ozog

Qualification

• Ph.D., Leadership and Policy, Niagara University, U.S.
• M.B.A., St. John Fisher College, U.S.
• B.P.S., Business Management, Cazenovia College, U.S.
• Certified Scrum master
• Certified SAFe 5.0 Agilist

Teaching and Scholarly Interests:

Management Information Systems; Statistics; Operations Management; Economic Policy; Environmental Policy

Biography:

Dr. Ozog is a Digital Services analyst responsible for web and mobile testing at Excellus Health Plan in Rochester, New York. Besides working with Excellus, he delivers the Digital Teaching and Learning series for Blackboard which is now part of Anthology. He has digital and technology experience at financial services firms such as HSBC (web content planning), CitiBank (application support), and M&T Bank (both as a system administrator within enterprise architecture and a project administrator within commercial, credit, and treasury technology). His variety of professional experience informs his teaching. As a lecturer he has taught undergraduate business classes at SUNY Brockport (Rochester, New York) and International Business University (Toronto).

Academically, he has a PhD in Leadership and Policy from Niagara University (Lewiston, New York). His research focus is economic policies regarding agglomeration economies. His MBA is from St. John Fisher College (Rochester, New York). His undergraduate degree is a bachelor of professional studies in business management from Cazenovia College (Cazenovia, New York).

Asher Ghaffar

Qualification

PhD (ABD), Social and Political Thought, York University

MES, York University

BA, English Language and Literature, University of Western Ontario

Teaching and Scholarly Interests:

Business Communication; World Literature; Continental Thought; Rhetoric and Composition; Poetry; Twentieth-century anticolonial thought.

Biography:

Asher Ghaffar is an award-winning writer and scholar who has taught courses in the social sciences and humanities for over a decade. He served as the Coordinator of the Writing Centre at the University of Calgary where he worked closely with business students. Asher later joined the University of Saskatchewan as a full-time faculty member of Rhetorical Communication and Principal Investigator at the Ron and Jane Graham School of Professional Development. In addition to working as an inaugural faculty member at IBU, Asher also currently serves as a Specialist in the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching at Toronto Metropolitan University and a Lecturer at OCADU.

Peter Wang

IT Director

Biography:

With 20 years global technology management experiences in F500 multinational companies in North America as well as worked extensively in Asia and Europe, Peter is responsible for driving IBU’s IT product vision and digital technology strategy, he has highly knowledgeable in exceptional technology delivery and diverse areas of business engagement utilizing creative strategies to increase the University’s productivity. He was most recently a Regional IT Leader at Miniso Canada, and prior were the global IT leaders at National Basketball Association, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Syniverse Technologies. Peter holds a master’s degree in project management from BUPT.

Muzy Rodoplu

Senior Finance Officer

Qualification

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Teaching and Scholarly Interests:

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Biography:

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Julien Papon

Executive in Residence, Introduction to Business, International Business

Qualification

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Teaching and Scholarly Interests:

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Biography:

Julien brings to IBU both his entrepreneurial success as founder of bicycle brand Vitess, along with consulting and business leadership roles.

Prior to Vitess, he advised clients on foreign direct Investment and international technology transfers and was vice-president at an advanced manufacturing firm with Fortune 100 clients. He has also headed manufacturing engineering for a leading automotive supplier, with clients such as BMW, Audi and Honda.
Julien has a masters in mechanical engineering, a masters in management of industrial systems from Ecole Centrale in France, and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business and Kellogg School of Management. He has taught at both the Schulich School and Yorkville University.

Amanda Malitsky

Enrolment Officer

Qualification

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Teaching and Scholarly Interests:

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Biography:

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Geoffrey C. Stewart

Contemporary World History

Qualification

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Teaching and Scholarly Interests:

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Biography:

A desire to leverage the potential of liberal education to encourage students to become responsible global citizens is at the core of Geoffrey’s academic focus.
His research focuses on the intersection of the Cold War and decolonization in South Vietnam, in particular how this shaped rural development and nation-building during the First Republic of Vietnam (1955-1963).

Geoffrey has a bachelor of science in kinesiology from Dalhousie University, a masters in history from the University of Toronto and a PhD in international history from Western University. Before IBU he taught at the University of Toronto, Western University and Fulbright University Vietnam.

Dwight Townsend

Academic Advisor and Instructional Designer

Qualification

Qualification

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Teaching and Scholarly Interests:

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Biography:

Dwight brings extensive experience in post-secondary program design, administration and teaching to IBU.
In program design he has delivered core and continuing education courses in health care, business and academia. In administration, he served as deputy registrar at the College of Dental Technologies of Ontario to provide insight in education management. In scholarly work, he focuses on health and Afrocentric issues and teaches health law and policy and global health.

Dwight holds a bachelor of health studies, York University, a masters of leadership and interdisciplinary studies, Royal Roads University, and is completing a masters of laws at Osgoode Hall Law School.