Dr. Dima Jamali
Dean, Adnan Kassar School of Business
A globally recognized scholar on sustainability, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and social entrepreneurship, Dr. Dima R. Jamali brings to LAU a proven track record of fostering strategic partnerships and a global vision that will elevate the AACSB-accredited school’s reputation as a leading business school in the MENA region.
With over 20 years in academia, Dr. Jamali’s leadership portfolio across the MENA region reflects her ability to navigate complex environments. She rose through the ranks from Associate Dean of the Olayan School of Business at the American University of Beirut (AUB) to Endowed Chair in Responsible Leadership in 2014 and Executive Director for Strategic Partnerships in 2016.
In 2020, she assumed the role of Dean of the College of Business Administration at the University of Sharjah before joining the Canadian University, Dubai, in September 2023, as Dean of the School of Management, VP for Academic Affairs, and most recently VP for University Advancement.
Dr. Jamali has served as an expert consultant for the United Nations, the World Bank, and major firms in Lebanon, focusing on social policy and CSR. She has championed the UN Global Compact Network for Lebanon and collaborated with private sector firms to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the UN 2030 agenda.
In addition to founding and presiding as National Representative for the UN Global Compact Network Lebanon (GCNL), a network of businesses committed to advancing sustainability and the SDGs in Lebanon, she is a member of the Globally Responsible Initiative and the Global Chapter Council for the UN Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME).
Dr. Jamali is the author/editor of ten books and over 150 highly cited and impactful international publications on sustainability in developing countries and the Middle East. She was ranked among the top 2 percent of scientists in the field of sustainability by Stanford University for two years in a row (2020 and 2021) and 3rd among the leading scholars in the business and management field in the UAE by QS for four consecutive years (2021–2024).
In 2013, Dr. Jamali was selected for the Eisenhower Fellows Program—a global network of leading professionals committed to collaborating for a more prosperous, just and peaceful world— and previously, in 2007, for the British Academy of Management Fellowship for South Asia and the Middle East.
She is the recipient of the 2024 Kuwait Prize honoring pioneering Arab scholars in various fields, the 2016 National Council for Scientific Research Excellence Award, the 2015 Aspen Institute Faculty Pioneer Award, the Shield of Excellence for the Arab Region, the Shoman Prize for Young Researchers, and the Arab Organization for Social Responsibility’s Personality of the Year for CSR award in 2015.
Dr. Jamali holds a PhD in Social Policy and Administration from the University of Kent at Canterbury, UK, a Master in Sociology from San Jose State University, US, and a BA in Public Administration from AUB, Lebanon.