We are delighted to announce the outcome of the recent elections in July for the Vice Chair for Sustainability and Co-Vice Chair for Communities positions on the BAM Executive beginning in 2027.
As previously communicated, Prof Emma Macdonald will step down from her role at the end of 2026 and will not stand for a second term. We will also see current Co-Vice Chair for Communities, Prof Christian Harrison, take up the role of Chair of BAM from January 2027.
Professor Emma Macdonald
Professor Emma Macdonald joined Strathclyde as Charles Huang Chair in International Business and inaugural Director of the Stephen Young Institute within Strathclyde Business School.
Emma was at Cranfield School of Management for a decade, holding a number of different roles including coDirector of the Cranfield Customer Management Forum for nine years and leader of Cranfield's popular Customer Centric Strategy programme for five years. Emma was Head of the Sustainability and Marketing faculty groups when she left Cranfield to join University of Warwick. As Professor of Marketing at Warwick Business School for four years, Emma led on the prestigious London MBA receiving multiple teaching commendations and an award for pastoral care.
Emma’s research in sustainability and marketing has been published in Harvard Business Review, and in top-ranked journals including Journal of Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Service Research, Journal American Statistical Association, Industrial Marketing Management, Psychology & Marketing, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Cleaner Production, and Technology Forecasting & Social Change.
Professor Christian Harrison
Christian Harrison is a Professor of Leadership and Enterprise at the University of Greater Manchester UK and the Director of the Centre for Leadership and Empowerment. He is also the Head of the Research and Doctoral College of the Off Campus Division. He leads the Research Excellence Framework (REF) for Business and Management in the Business School and is a well-known scholar in leadership, contributing to media outlets like STV, Scotland Tonight, and the Guardian Nigeria. He has authored numerous research papers and books, including the bestselling Leadership Theory and Research: A Critical Approach to New and Existing Paradigms.
Christian is Co-Vice Chair for Communities at the British Academy of Management and is Chair for the Academy for African Studies. He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a Certified Management and Business Educator, and a Fellow of the Institute of Business Administration and Knowledge Management. He serves on several editorial boards and panels, and as an external examiner for many UK universities.
An expert consultant and speaker, he has delivered leadership training to the Scottish Government Directors, NHS, SMEs, and a host of others. Professor Harrison’s accolades include an Honorary Doctor of Innovation in Leadership, 2024 Distinguished Leadership Award and multiple Excellence Awards. He is also the founder of The Leadership Mould Initiative International, championing leadership development globally.
Following the recent election, which closed in July and was conducted via OpaVote, we are pleased to announce that Dr Silvia Tedesco, Associate Professor of Sustainability at the University of Salford, and Dr Fariba Darabi, Senior Lecturer in Management at Bangor University, have been duly elected as the incoming Vice-Chair for Sustainability and Co-Vice Chair for Communities, respectively.
Dr Fariba Darabi
Dr Fariba Darabi is an experienced management educator with particular expertise in the fields of Entrepreneurship, International Business, and Research Methods. She held Visiting Professorship at University of Capitole 1 (Toulouse, France); committee member for the EFMD doctoral programmes conference; serves on the British Academy of Management’s Council as a Management Knowledge and Education Committee member, co-leading the ‘Education-focussed Professor’ programme, and Co-Chair for the Research Methodology Special Interest Group.
Fariba is UK Council for Graduate Education-recognised research supervisor, with doctoral completions and external examination experience. Her primary research interests are Engaged Scholarship, SME Entrepreneurship, and Global Supply Chain Management; Research methods is her secondary research interest, for which she is authoring a textbook. Fariba is an engaged scholar who has successfully secured research grants to ‘Harness AI and Generative AI for Welsh SMEs’ Innovation’, acting as Principal Investigator, and is co-investigating a ‘AI-driven innovation in UK SMEs’ project funded by ISBE’s RAKE fund. She has also been successful in attracting UKRI funds for a KTP project. She has published in World Class Journals such as the International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour Research and Human Resource Management Journal, alongside authoring chapters in edited research volumes.
Please visit Fariba’s full profile here: https://www.bangor.ac.uk/staff/bbs/fariba-darabi-658619/en
We look forward to welcoming Dr Tedesco and Dr Darabi to the BAM Executive from January 2027 and to working with them as they take up their new roles.
We would also like to thank Prof Emma Macdonald for her contribution and commitment to BAM during her term as Vice-Chair for Sustainability over the past two years.