AUB appoints emerging and Asian market scholar to lead Olayan School of Business

Originally from Belgium, and most recently founding dean of the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO, Dr. Vanhonacker has vast international experience, acquired through academic appointments in Russia, China, the United States, France, and the MENA region. He brings to AUB an inspiring and entrepreneurial vision for management education that will benefit students and executives who want to excel in the fast-moving global marketplace. He will assume his new post in late October 2012.

In Moscow, Dr. Vanhonacker established acclaimed MBA and EMBA programs, a strategic partnership with MIT Sloan and an alliance with leading private business schools in Brazil, India and China.

Prior to SKOLKOVO, Dr. Vanhonacker served as Chair, Professor of Marketing, Department Head and Executive Director of the Center for Marketing and Distribution, School of Business and Management, HKUST, Hong Kong, where he is credited with establishing one of the top academic research departments in the world. He is the co-founder, former dean and vice president of China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), Shanghai, China; a former professor of marketing at INSEAD (where he founded the acclaimed PhD program), Fontainebleau, France; and a former professor of business at Columbia University's Graduate School of Business in New York. As one of only a few scholars with extensive expertise on China's burgeoning economic influence, Dr. Vanhonacker is a sought-after speaker, lecturer, and commentator, appearing at conferences, in classrooms, and across media worldwide.

Calling Dr. Vanhonacker an "academic game changer on an international scale," AUB President Peter Dorman said OSB will benefit from Dr. Vanhonacker's understanding of emerging markets, his focus on experiential learning and his enterprising approach to business education. "Global markets are rapidly changing and we have to reinvent business education to train our students for new rules, new players and new opportunities. Wilfried Vanhonacker is an exciting educational innovator who will propel AUB into new regions of huge interest to our students and the corporate sector," he added.

"New graduates are obligated to bring to the workforce more than a diploma from a respectable institution; they also need to know how to get things done in a business environment that is ever more competitive, dynamic and global," said Dr. Vanhonacker. "I am pleased that President Dorman and the leadership of AUB understand how the evolution of our business climate warrants a revolution in business education. It's my privilege to lead OSB and to ensure that our graduates and stakeholders are uniquely qualified for meaningful and impactful contributions to the globally evolving marketplace."

AUB Provost Ahmad Dallal said, "AUB has long had strong ties with the Arab world, with Europe and the USA. Dr. Vanhonacker's tremendous experience in Russia and China will help us develop a truly international education for our students, and present new opportunities for global collaboration in research, pedagogy and innovation for AUB's aspiring academic community."

Dr. Vanhonacker is the author of The China Casebook (2004) and The Asian Marketing Casebook (1999), as well as numerous articles on consumer choice behavior, emerging market entry strategies, and the globalization of Chinese enterprises for publications such as Harvard Business Review, The China Business Review, The Journal of Marketing Research, Marketing Science, and Management Science. He has done extensive consulting work for corporate clients, global organizations, and government agencies in Europe, US and Asia.

Dr. Vanhonacker received his Licenciate in applied economic sciences and econometrics from University Faculties St. Ignatius, Antwerp, Belgium, and a PhD in management from the Krannert Graduate School of Management, Purdue University.