Dr.G. Ilavazhagan is Director – International Affairs and before this he was Director -Research, Hindustan University. He was formerly Outstanding Scientist & Director, Life Sciences in Defence Research & Development Organisation, Ministry Of Defence, Govt. of India. Dr. Ilavazhagan has more than forty years of experience in teaching, research, technical coordination and management. Dr. Ilavazhagan has six Indian patents, two US and two EPO patents for the processes of isolation of bioactive principles from Neem. Dr. Ilavazhagan has more than 85 publications in referreed International Journals. His interest in research is High Altitude Stress. He was involved in establishing the Centre for Research in Physiology in Kyrghystan and the DRDO-Bharathiyar Univ, Centre for Life Sciences in Bharathiar University Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Dr.Ilavazhagan also was involved in International Research Projects with erstwhile USSR, Kyrghystan Republic and US Airforce Research Centre in Dayton, USA.
Category: 2020 Delegate
Professor Zahir Irani
Professor Zahir Irani studied Manufacturing Engineering at the University of Salford before working as a Project Engineer in industry. He then secured a full scholarship from Brunel University London, where he completed a PhD in Investment Decision Making. His professional development has seen him complete his leadership and financial management training at Harvard Business School (HBS) and University of Cambridge, respectively. He started his academic career in the Department of Computer Science at Brunel University London. Five years later becoming the youngest Professor in the UK, followed by a period as Head of Department, where he championed industry-academia partnerships.
A move to a more senior management position, saw him lead the Brunel Business School. After completing a 7-year tenure as Head of the Brunel Business School, where he won the prestigious Times Higher Education (THE) Business School of the Year award. He accepted an invitation to work in Central Government, where he was seconded to Whitehall as a Senior Policy Advisor in the Cabinet Office during the UK coalition Government. On completion, he returned to academia, as Founding Dean, of the newly established College of Business, Arts and Social Sciences at Brunel University London; an amalgamation of four previous Schools – Business, Law, Social Sciences and Education.
In 2016 the University of Bradford appointed Professor Irani as Dean of Faculty (Management and Law), where he led a successful merger with the Faculty of Social Sciences before assuming the role of a Founding Dean of the new Faculty.
As a senior academic leader, Professor Irani expanded his portfolio when appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Bradford, with responsibility for Academic, Innovation and Quality, where he is accountable for:
• Four academic faculty’s.
• Directorate of Outreach, Recruitment and Marketing (DORM)
• Directorate of Student & Academic Services (including registry, library, career services, counselling, etc),
• Directorate of Learning, Teaching and Quality Enhancement, and,
Professor Irani also leads the transformation and growth of the University’s undergraduate, postgraduate (taught and research) educational portfolio through Faculty and Professional services, where he leads on innovation and enhancing the quality of the student experience, teaching practice, curriculum development and support for student learning and success.
The West Yorkshire Lord Lieutenancy formally recognized Professor Irani for his outstanding service to the community. He continues to support charities such as Age UK (Bradford and District) and the Volunteering Interfaith Partnerships (VIP) that help vulnerable communities.
He has also received the district governor’s award from Rotary International for services to the community.
He is also leading social, economic and cultural value creation, having been appointed by the Bradford Metropolitan District Council as the Chair of the Bradford Covid-19 Economic Recovery Board that developed a 5-year economic recovery plan for the district; approved in 2021 by the council executive and elected officials. At a national level, appointed by the NHS (Health Education England), to Chair a Blended Learning Advisory Group that will revision the future of medical and health clinical placements. He is also a Higher Education representative on a Cyber Security Steering Group for the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
Professor Irani was named by the Sunday Times as a leading Bradford influencer. He tweets at: @ZahirIrani1
Professor Anne Graham
Anne Graham is professor of biochemistry at University of Bradford and she leads the Faculty Research & Knowledge Transfer agenda. She was appointed to her current role in 2016 after completing the role of Director of Postgraduate Research for 5 years. In addition to her role as an active researcher into mechanisms of inflammation in cardiovascular disease, she is passionate about development and success of early career researchers (postgraduates and postdoctoral researchers). In 2018 Anne set up a Faculty Early Career Forum for networking between early career researchers and academics. She leads the institutional working group developing our action plan to demonstrate how we meet the obligations of the Researcher Development Concordat, after the institution became a signatory in spring 2020.
Professor Diana Anderson
Diana Anderson MSc, PhD, DipEd, C.Biol, FRSB, FRCPath, FRCS, FIFST, FATS, FBTS, FHEA
Professor Diana Anderson currently holds the Established Chair of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Bradford, UK. She obtained her first degree in the University of Wales and second degrees in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Manchester. After tutoring at the University of Sydney, Australia, she became a research worker in the Department of Cancer Studies at the University of Leeds and at the Paterson Laboratories, Christie Hospital, Manchester. In 1974, she was appointed as Head of Mutagenesis Studies at ICI’s Central Toxicology Laboratory. Professor Anderson joined BIBRA International in 1981 as Head of Genetic and Reproductive Toxicology and became Assistant Director and Group Forum Co-ordinator in 1987. In 1992, she became Senior Associate and Co-ordinator of External Affairs at BIBRA. She has served on the editorial board of 8 international journals plus 2 on line journals, has over 450 publications, has edited/authored 8 books and guest-edited 9 special issues of 4 international journals. She was a Series Editor of books in ‘Current Toxicology’ for John Wiley and Sons and is currently Editor–in-Chief for the Book Series ‘Issues in Toxicology’ for the Royal Society of Chemistry. She is an active Committee member and has been Vice-President of the Institute of Biology. She has successfully supervised 30 post-graduates [26 PhD, 2 MPhil and 2 MSc (Res) students] and is currently supervising 5 other PhDs and has managed several post–doc positions. She has been external examiner for 29 PhDs and was External Examiner for the Dept. of Genetics, University of Wales, Swansea. She has been invited to speak at many international meetings and chair many symposia. She has helped establish new research laboratories in India and Korea under the auspices of the British Council and UNIDO. Funded by various international agencies, scientists from America, Australia, the Czech Republic, Italy, India, Iran, Korea, Poland, Serbia, Spain and Turkey have received training under her supervision. She has organised both national and international meetings and is/was a member of various national (e.g. MRC Advisory Board, Veterinary Products Committee) and was of international committees, including the Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the Foundation of International Association of Environmental Mutagen Societies and the European Union Scientific Committee for Animal Nutrition (SCAN). She has hosted and participated in 56 meetings for WHO/IPCS. In 2011, she won a prize as an Enterprise Fellow from Yorkshire Forward. In 2015, she won the Vice Chancellor’s award at the University of Bradford for Outstanding Achievement.
Professor Abdulla Al-Hawaj
Dr. Abdulla Y. Al-Hawaj, the Founding President of Ahlia University, ranks in the top echelon of educational leaders in the Arabian Gulf. His incumbency in numerous managerial posts in prestigious organizations associated with educational development at a national level, combined with a plethora of academic accolades awarded to him by esteemed institutions, attests to Dr. Al-Hawaj’s being in the vanguard of higher educational reform in the Kingdom of Bahrain. In recognition of Dr. Al-Hawaj’s trail blazing contributions in the sphere of educational advancement in the Kingdom of Bahrain, he was appointed in the year 2000 — by royal decree – as a member of the Supreme Committee for the Kingdom National Charter, in which he serves as the coordinator of its Educational Committee. Dr. Al-Hawaj holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Applied Mathematics from the University of Manchester (UK) and a B.Sc. (Hon.) in Mathematics from the University of Kuwait.
Dr. Al-Hawaj launched his distinguished academic career at the University of Bahrain, in which he held the successive posts of Dean of Registration & Student Affairs, Chairman of the Department of Mathematics, and Chairman of the Department of Computer Science. He attained the rank of Professor of Mathematics at the University of Bahrain in 1993 and continued to serve the University of Bahrain in that capacity until 2005. Dr. Al-Hawaj’s profound contributions to the fields of Mathematics, Computer Sciences, and Education through numerous research papers, books, media debates, and public discussions are vast. His unstinting dynamism, paradigm-shattering innovation and superlative achievement in the academic and social arena have accorded him a number of prestigious awards and honorariums.
Dr. Al-Hawaj has extensive experience in leading large multi-dimensional institutions. His signature use of pragmatic and innovative thinking in solving complex educational and business issues stems from his strong managerial and educational background. He is widely acclaimed as a pioneering architect of the private university in the Arabian Gulf and a leading proponent of excellence in Higher Education in the whole of the Middle East. He is the Chairman of the Executive Office of The Association of Arab Private Institutions for Higher Education. In the year 2019, he was awarded the Doctor of Science honoris causa (DSc) from Brunel University London for his contribution to international education.
Professor Dr Nordin Bin Yahaya
Dr Nordin is the Director for Higher Education Leadership Academy (AKEPT), at the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia since May 2019 where he is responsible to develop higher education leaders who are competent, agile, with high calibre and values through leadership advancement initiatives for national and international needs. Previously, he was the Pro Vice-Chancellor (International) of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) where he was responsible for planning, strategising and executing the internationalisation policies and initiatives as well as global reputation at UTM. Currently, he is a Member of Board of Governor for Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TARUC), the Vice President for Ge4 Network and a member of the International Advisory Board for Amity University, India. Among other porfolios he previously held were the Advisory Board of Swiss-ASEAN Learning and Teaching (SALT) Network, the Operational Board of the World Technological Universities Network (WTUN), Board Member of APAIE and the Chairman of Executive Committee for Asia Technological University Network (ATU-Net). He is a regular speaker in many national and international forums related to international education and globalisation of higher institutions. He also involved in many strategic talent management initiatives for higher education institutions, including capacity building for young leaders. He has received international recognitions including the Global Academic Excellence Awards 2017 by the Amity University and the World Education Congress Award 2018 (for Eduation Leadership), India.
Nordin graduated with BE (Hons) in Civil Engineering from Salford University (1988), MSc. in Offshore Engineering from Cranfield University (1992) and PhD in Civil and Offshore Engineering from Heriot–Watt University, United Kingdom (1999). He has been with UTM for more than 30 years (since 1988). At UTM, he has performed several senior administrative responsibilities including the Senior Director for UTM International Affairs, Dean of School of Graduate Studies, Elected Senate Member, Deputy Director for the University Marketing Unit. He has served at other positions such as the Manager of International Students Affairs, Deputy Dean and Head of Department at UTM. Currently, he is a Professor in Structural Engineering, and a founding Head of Reliability Engineering & Structural Assessment (RESA) Research Group at the School of Civil Engineering and has published more than 100 papers. In his area of expertise in structural integrity, he is working very closely with oil and gas industry, particularly in pipeline integrity and risk management.
Dr Rhonda Lenton
Rhonda L. Lenton is the eighth President and Vice-Chancellor of York University. She joined York in 2002 as Dean of the Atkinson Faculty of Liberal & Professional Studies, and went on to serve as Vice-Provost Academic and then Vice-President Academic & Provost. A champion of community engagement and innovative partnerships, she has significantly expanded York’s institutional collaborations with government, business, community organizations, and other postsecondary education partners. A sociologist by training, her areas of teaching and research expertise include gender, family conflict, research methods and higher education. In 2015, Dr. Lenton was named one of the top 100 most powerful women in Canada by the Women’s Executive Network (WXN) and in 2016 received the Angela Hildyard Recognition Award for her innovative leadership in higher education.
Professor Yong Chie Heng
Professor Heng is now retired; formerly he was a vice president of NTUST. Prior to that he had served as a Director General of Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute and a Vice President of Motorola Inc. YC is a Fellow of IET in the United Kingdom.
Professor Shirley Congdon
Having lived and worked in the Bradford City Region for ten years she is committed to positioning the University at the centre of the region’s social and economic regeneration by harnessing the University’s strengths in research, innovation, teaching and partnerships and creating a values-led culture that is inclusive and effective in enriching lives and benefitting society. As Vice-Chancellor, Professor Shirley Congdon is responsible for the University of Bradford’s leadership and management, including the development and delivery of its values and strategic ambitions. She is the University’s eighth Vice-Chancellor and the first women to hold the role. Originally qualifying as a Registered Nurse, Shirley’s professional and academic expertise lies within the area of health and social care, service modernisation and cultural change, research methods and evidence-based practice. She has an outstanding record in all aspects of university leadership, having worked within the field of higher education for 25 years and held senior roles in three different universities. Shirley is a passionate advocate for equality and diversity, social inclusion and widening participation in higher education – opening opportunities and unlocking potential for people of all backgrounds. She is a tireless ambassador for students and is committed to ensuring they receive the education, experience, and support they need to reach their potential and move into their chosen career or further study after graduating.
For 2024-25 Professor Congdon sits as WTUN Chair of the General Board until 31 July 2025.
Professor Brian Cantor
Brian Cantor is Professor of Materials at Oxford and Brunel Universities. He is also Founding Chair of the World Technology Universities Network, a Trustee of the Science Museums Group and an Editor of Elsevier’s premier review journal, Progress in Materials Science. He has published over 300 books and papers. He invented the field of High Entropy Alloys and discovered “Cantor alloys”. In the recent past, he has been Vice-Chancellor of the Universities of Bradford and York, Head of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at Oxford, a research scientist at GE Labs in the USA, a consultant for Alcan, NASA and Rolls-Royce, and a Vice-President of the Royal Academy of Engineering. He has worked at other universities such as Sussex, Northeastern, Banaras, Washington State and IISc Bangalore, and chaired or been on boards such as the Marshall Aid Commission, the UK Universities Pensions Forum, and Bradford, Leeds and York Local Economic Partnerships (LEPs). He founded and built up the Begbroke Science Park, the Heslington East Campus, the Hull-York Medical School, the National Science Learning Centre, and the World Technology Universities Network. He has received academic prizes, honorary professorships and fellowships in the UK, USA, China and India. He was awarded a CBE for services to higher education in 2013.