Meet the new dean of SFU Beedie

Professor Ujwal Kayande has been named as the new dean of Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business. Dr. Kayande is currently an associate dean and professor of marketing at the Melbourne Business School in Australia and will join SFU in mid-January 2022. 

Dr. Kayande has been teaching marketing strategy and business analytics at the Melbourne Business School since 2013 where he became the founding director of the school’s Centre for Business Analytics. He was also co-director of the Delivering Value through Digital Executive Education program, jointly delivered with the University of Oxford. 

With a prior connection to Canada, having spent part of his childhood in Edmonton, Dr. Kayande returned to complete his PhD at the University of Alberta in 1998. He subsequently held faculty positions at Pennsylvania State University, Australian National University, and others. Dr. Kayande has received numerous accolades for teaching excellence and his research has been recognized by the American Marketing Association (Lehmann Award), European Marketing Academy (IJRM Best Paper) and the Australia-NZ Marketing Academy (Distinguished Researcher). He has also held a number of honorary and visiting positions at universities around the world including Malaysia, India, China, France, Germany and the U.S.

“I am excited to welcome Ujwal to SFU," says Dr. Catherine Dauvergne, SFU’s vice-president, academic and provost. “He brings with him a wealth of experience in leading institutions on three continents and a commitment to serve the SFU Beedie community enthusiastically as it moves towards fulfilling its goals.”

Dr. Kayande says he was drawn to SFU Beedie by the school’s track record in developing innovative and impactful programs, including Canada's first Executive MBA, the EMBA in Indigenous Business and Leadership, the data and analytic programs in accounting with KPMG, and establishing outstanding centres for excellence such as the social innovation hub (RADIUS) and the Charles Chang Institute for Entrepreneurship.

“SFU Beedie has a wonderful community of inspiring students, alumni, faculty and staff and an outstanding pedigree of innovation,” says Dr. Kayande. “It is my aspiration to continue to foster innovative activities and grow the school’s reputation for innovative research and teaching. I look forward to being a part of the SFU Beedie community and working with all its stakeholders to make the school the best it can be.”