Meet the faculty behind your learning journey
Explore the academic leaders, industry practitioners, and business specialists who bring global experience, applied insight, and research-led learning into LUBM programmes.
Faculty Profiles
Each profile below has a direct anchor link, so course pages can send learners straight to the respective faculty member using the Read More button.
Dr. Nikola Perovic
PhD, MBAI, MSc, FCIM
Dr. Nikola Perovic is a distinguished academic and international business consultant with over 20 years of managerial experience across Europe and the Middle East. A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (FCIM), he holds a PhD in Economics and an MBA from Brandeis University, completed in cooperation with MIT, Boston University and Babson College. Dr. Perovic is the author of "The International Post-Acquisition Management" and a certified Global Dexterity Method trainer, specializing in foreign market analysis, strategic innovation, and cross-cultural management. His extensive background includes leading high-impact marketing initiatives for major corporate clients and serving as a curriculum chair, ensuring LUBM students receive a globally recognized, industry-aligned education.
Dr. Haiyadri Sharma
ICSSR doctoral fellowship awardee
Dr. Haiyadri Sharma has a PhD in Consumer Behaviour and excels at teaching Quantitative Techniques, bringing over a decade of academic and industry experience to the faculty. A dual gold medalist in both her MBA and Bachelor of Engineering, she also held the prestigious Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) doctoral fellowship. Her professional portfolio includes significant roles at BMW India and Ernst & Young, where she specialized in market research, CRM strategies, and business analytics. Dr. Sharma’s teaching philosophy focuses on fostering critical thinking through research methodology and business statistics, preparing students to solve complex organizational challenges with data-driven precision.
Professor Durgadevi P
Head of L&D & Organisational Transformation
Professor Durgadevi P is a results-oriented Learning and Development specialist with over 15 years of experience in instructional design and quality management. Holding an MBA along with PMP and ASQ Six Sigma Black Belt certifications, she has a proven track record of developing award-winning training programs for global organizations like Bosch. As a contributor to the PMBOK Guide, she integrates advanced learning frameworks, such as the Shu-Ha-Ri and 3I models, into her curriculum to ensure students achieve deep skill mastery. Her focus on operational excellence and performance management provides students with the strategic tools necessary to lead transformative initiatives in any professional environment.
Professor Divya Nambiar
PMP, PSM, LEED AP
Professor Divya Nambiar is a seasoned academic, consultant, and corporate trainer with over 15 years of industry experience and a decade of excellence in higher education. A certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and LEED Accredited Professional, she is also the founder of consultancy firms established in both Dubai and Canada, bringing extensive international experience across industry and academia.
She has worked with leading organizations, including Deloitte Canada, as a corporate trainer. Her expertise spans Project Management, Risk Management, Sustainability, Innovation Management, and the development of high-performing PMOs, with a strong focus on both Waterfall and Agile methodologies.
Nominated for the PMI Teaching Excellence Award, Professor Nambiar is passionate about empowering project teams and equipping students and professionals with practical, industry-relevant knowledge at the intersection of innovation, operational efficiency, and effective project leadership.
Professor Brendan Paddison
Dean of York Business School
I am Dean of York Business School and Professor of Tourism Geographies at York St John University. As Dean, I provide strategic leadership across the Business School portfolio, including Business and Management, Accounting, Economics, Marketing, Tourism, Events, Law, Police Studies, Computer Science and Data Science. I also teach across a range of Business and Management subject areas at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, including tourism, responsible business and politics.
As an urban geographer, my research interests include tourism and destination management, spatial justice, urban development and place-making, policy, and collaborative forms of destination governance and development. I have presented on these topics nationally and internationally and have published widely in this area.
I co-lead the Visitor Economy and Experience research group at York St John, co-chair the Tourism Education Futures Initiative (TEFI) and Chair the York Tourism Advisory Board. I am Editor in Chief for the Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education and a member of the editorial boards for the Journal of Teaching in Travel and Tourism, the e-Review of Tourism Research journal and Routledge Open Research.
Dr. Dean Garratt
Associate Dean: International Programmes, York Business School
I graduated from the Manchester Metropolitan University with a 1st class honours degree in Business Education in 1993, following which I studied full-time (with bursary) for a PhD in education. Working in the borderlands of sociology, social theory and applied philosophy I developed an ethnographic study of curriculum innovation in a mainstream secondary school. Alongside doctoral research my HE teaching career began in 1994, and I was later appointed a Research Fellow following completion of my PhD in 1997.
For more than a decade I worked as a qualitative researcher and/or lead evaluator on a range of externally funded projects and independent evaluations, including sponsorships with the following agencies: Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC); Learning and Skills Research Council; Joint Information Systems Committee; sports coach UK; Institute of Global Ethics and Citizenship Foundation; DFES/Wellcome Trust; Lego-Siemens Business Partnership; Sure Start; Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service. At the same time, I taught and supervised doctoral research students and also led an ESRC-approved research training programme (MRes: Education and Society).
In 2007, I was appointed Senior Lecturer in Education Studies at Liverpool John Moores University, before taking up post as Reader in Education at the University of Chester (2010) followed by Professor of Education. This led to a secondment, first as Director of the University of Chester’s Graduate School (2014) and, subsequently, Associate Dean of Research (2015-2016). In 2017, I was appointed Professor of Education and Head of School at York St John, a position I held for two and a half years before leaving the University and later returning to the Business School (2021), reinvented as Director of International Programmes and later, Associate Dean.
Alexandra Dales
Senior Lecturer
I am an economic geographer and senior lecturer at York Business School (YBS), York St John University. My early research centred on examining food and general merchandise global production networks, national retail markets, and sourcing and supply networks in the UK and elsewhere from an economic geographical perspective.
I am Principle Investigator for an XR Stories Funded Project 'Sustainability Stories: Investigating the UK creative industry and the communication of sustainability'. The project brings together academic expertise in market economies and firms (York St John University), and sustainability (University of Leeds), and is exploring how SMEs involved in film, multimedia arts, advertising and immersive and interactive digital technologies can communicate sustainability transformations through creative storytelling in order to engage policy makers, consumers and market actors.
I specialise in qualitative research methods, in-depth secondary data collection and thematic analyses. I have been particularly successful at developing industry contacts and securing participant interviews within previous research projects in both UK and Southeast Asian contexts. As a result of my research, I have become highly skilled at interviewing diverse participants.
Dr. Steve Letza
Program Lead | Dean of Academics and Administration
Dr. Steve Letza is a respected author and Professor of Corporate Governance at Bournemouth University, UK. He has held senior academic positions, including Head of the Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics and Chair in Corporate Governance at Bournemouth University, along with senior roles at Liverpool John Moores University and Leeds Business School. He has also served as a visiting professor at the Universities of Poznan, Poland and Griffith, Australia.
His work spans corporate governance, risk management, performance measurement, and corporate reporting. With well over 200 published papers, Dr. Letza has made a significant contribution to academic and professional debates in governance and business leadership. In 2013, his 2004 paper published in Corporate Governance: An International Review was republished as one of the journal’s top ten most-cited papers to mark its 20-year anniversary.
Dr. Letza holds a master’s degree from the University of Manchester and a doctorate from the University of Bradford. He is an elected Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. His academic, advisory, and executive education experience brings strong governance, strategy, and leadership insight to doctoral-level learning.
Dr. Jacinta Dsilva
Sustainability Researcher and Strategist
Dr. Jacinta Dsilva (Ph.D.) is a renowned sustainability researcher and strategist with over 20 years of academic and industry experience. She earned her PhD from Coventry University, UK in Service Quality and Consumer Behaviour and is a double master’s in business management. She has held several positions such as Director of Research, Living Lab and International Partnerships at SEE Institute, Dubai UAE, Professor and Visiting Research Scholar across India, UK, China and Japan.
Her expertise lies in the intersection of sustainability and consumer behavior, and she has worked at prestigious universities in the UAE, India, and China. With a strong focus on research and digital transformation, Dr. Dsilva has more than 60 journal publications, and more than 20 books, book chapters, and case study publications. Her publications focus on Circular Economy, Green Technologies, Industry 4.0, Strategic Corporate Governance and Artificial Intelligence. She is a regular publisher and reviewer of Elsevier, Springer and other reputed journals.
Currently, she is the Co-Founder and CEO of InLabs Group working on Sustainability Education and Gamification and a faculty at American University in Dubai.
She has led research teams, established collaborative partnerships with high-level stakeholders, and developed frameworks for conducting research in circular economy and climate change. Driven by her commitment to sustainability, she has established a research center and living lab to facilitate impactful research and knowledge dissemination. She has led successful Global Sustainability Summits attended by over 1200 academics, start-ups, industry and government officials across the world. She has also worked with National Dialogues organized by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment and played a significant role in organising important discussions during COP28 alongside the Ministry of Education.