Academic Board
The Academic Board is an independent body of senior academics and industry practitioners that is responsible for the governance of Kaplan Business School courses. They have the delegated authority of the Kaplan Corporate Board to make decisions on academic matters and provide guidance and advice to management on higher education issues and trends. KBS’s Academic Quality and Governance Framework outlines the terms of reference of the KBS Academic Board and its subcommittees. Members of the Academic Board provide expertise in the areas of higher education, business management and accounting and professional practice.
MEMBERS
DR MICHAEL EVANS
Academic Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Master of Business Administration
- Bachelor of Economics
Career Overview
Dr Michael Evans is an independent academic consultant. Prior to Mike’s retirement from Kaplan Higher Education in August 2018, he was responsible for the Academic oversight of all Kaplan Higher Education operations in Australia. This includes driving the academic strategic direction of all areas of Kaplan’s higher education business including Kaplan Business School, Murdoch Institute of Technology, Bradford College and Kaplan Professional’s online postgraduate finance courses.
Prior to joining Kaplan Mike was a Professor of Management and Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Faculty of Business and Law at Southern Cross University in Australia. Mike has a wide range of business experience, with skills in managing, consulting, teaching and research. His recent research has focused on regional development and the business implications of climate change. He also has interests in valuation, innovation, commercialisation, and value creation within organisations. He has undertaken a wide range of applied research and consulting assignments for clients including reviews of strategic planning and implementation, performance measurement and evaluation, valuation and financial analysis. He has also been actively involved in executive education activities, with a focus on accounting, finance and strategy. He has consulting, research and teaching experience across Australia, in Asia and in Europe. Mike has a wealth of experience in Asia, having been involved in business development for universities since 1987, focused on Singapore, Malaysia and China. He has managed academic and business activities across 10 countries. Mike’s qualifications include a Bachelor of Economics, Master of Business Administration and Doctor of Philosophy. Mike also holds a prestige Fellow of CPA Australia (FCPA) designation.
Kaplan Contribution
Chair, Kaplan Business School Academic Board
Chair, Kaplan Higher Education Academic Board
Member, Kaplan Business School Corporate Board
Member, Kaplan Higher Education Corporate Board
EMERITUS PROFESSOR MEREDITH LAWLEY
Academic Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, USC
- Master of Business, USC
- Bachelor of Business, UQ
Career Overview
Emeritus Professor Meredith Lawley is currently the Acting Head, School of Business (Faculty of Arts, Business and Law) and a Professor (Marketing) at University of Sunshine Coast. Meredith has extensive experience in the delivery of higher education programs both within Australia and internationally. Meredith has a strong academic interest in the areas of marketing, consumer behaviour, international and online education. She is a member of the editorial review boards for both the Asian and European Journal of Marketing and has been an active TEQSA Expert since 2014.
Kaplan Contribution
Member, Kaplan Higher Education Academic Board
Member, Kaplan Business School Academic Board
Chair, Murdoch College Grade Ratification and Assessment Committee
PROFESSOR SUSAN OAKLEY
Academic Qualifications
- PhD (Sociology), Flinders University
- BA (Hons), Flinders University
Career Overview
Professor Oakley is Head, School of Social Sciences within the Faculty of Arts at the University of Adelaide. The School is divided into four departments: Anthropology and Development Studies; Asian Studies; Geography, Environment and Population; Sociology, Criminology and Gender Studies; and Politics & International Relations. The school is also affiliated with seven research centres, institutes and development units. Susan’s research expertise is two-fold: the relationship between planning, governance and urban regeneration and youth homelessness. Susan is an active member of the Centre for Housing, Urban & Regional Planning.
Kaplan Contribution
Member, Kaplan Business School Academic Board
Member, Kaplan Higher Education Academic Board
Chair, Appeals Committee
Chair, Kaplan Professional Grade Ratification & Assessment Committee
Chair, Kaplan Business School Grade Ratification & Assessment Committee
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR ALI TAMADDONI
Academic Qualifications
- PhD Marketing- Quantitative (Monash University)
- Master's (Lulea University of Technology)
- Graduate Certificate Higher Education, Learning and Teaching (Deakin University)
- Bachelor of Materials Engineering-Industrial Metallurgy (Azad University)
Career Overview
Ali Tamaddoni is an Associate Professor in the Department of Marketing, Deakin Business School. His research interests include churn management, customer analytics and User-Generated Content (UGC). Ali's work has been published in the Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Service Research, and Decision Support Systems, among others.
Kaplan Contribution
Member, KBS Academic Board
PROFESSOR MIKE WOOD
Academic Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy (Economics), University of Western Australia
- Bachelor of Economics, Aquinas College
Career Overview
Professor Mike Wood has considerable experience working on boards and committees, often as chair. In addition to chairing the Curtin Business School Executive between 1999 and 2006.
Professor Wood was for six years the chairman of the WA Government Salaries and Allowances Tribunal which sets remuneration for Members of Parliament, the judiciary, senior public servants and local government leaders.
He was the Chair of the Kaplan pathway college, MIT, at Murdoch University and subsequently a member of the MIT-Murdoch Academic Sub Committee until 2021.
He has had considerable experience in the not-for-profit sector, having been Chairman of the Board of Daughters of Charity (W A) Inc. and later Chairman of Members (Trustees) of Ruah Community Services.
Professor Wood has been the voluntary chairman or member of over 60 assessments of business schools around the world over the last 16 years. The assessments provided advice to the European Foundation for Management Development on the accreditation of business schools for the quality of their work. Matters such as strategy, positioning, innovations in teaching and learning, on-line learning, recognition of prior learning, teaching quality, research output, international partners, student feedback and finances were included among the standards reviewed.
Kaplan Contribution
Member, Kaplan Business School Academic Board
Member, Kaplan Higher Education Academic Board
Chair, Joint Academic Committee, Murdoch College
EMERITUS PROFESSOR TANIA ASPLAND
Academic Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Master of Education
- Bachelor of Education
- Bachelor of Arts
- Diploma of Teaching
Career Overview
Emeritus Professor Tania Aspland is the Vice President, Academic for Kaplan Business School and Kaplan Higher Education. Tania has been employed in higher education and the university sector since 1980. During the past twenty years she has focused her expertise around several areas of scholarship, including teacher education, postgraduate pedagogy and higher education curriculum studies. Tania is a highly respected academic, having recently held the roles of Professor in Teacher Education at the Australian Catholic University in Sydney and Dean, Education Policy and Strategy where she has provided high-level advice on teacher education, governance and policy.
Tania was the President of the Australian Council of Deans of Education and sat on a number of boards for the Australian government. Tania’s research focus has been on educational policy, leadership and reform, higher education curriculum and teacher education.
Kaplan Contribution
Member, Kaplan Business School Academic Board
Member, Kaplan Higher Education Academic Board
PROFESSOR JAMES ADONOPOULOS
Academic Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Master of Business Leadership
- Bachelor of Arts (Politics and International Relations)
Career Overview
Professor James Adonopoulos thesis was centred on the ways in which leaders influence employee engagement during organisational crises and significant change. Prior to his appointment as the Academic Dean at Kaplan Business School, he was employed as a sessional member of staff at Macquarie University and the University of Technology, Sydney.
His academic history is supported by practical corporate experience as a leader in a variety of industries, such as financial services and contact centres, at which his most noteworthy achievements were in relation to his employees' engagement, performance and retention. In combination with his books and fortnightly newsletter, his insights on workplace relations are read by 100,000 people every month.
For more than a decade, he has worked with hundreds of organisations as a speaker, facilitator and consultant, helping them successfully lead change, engage staff, and improve performance. This work has taken him to almost a dozen countries, working with clients that include McDonald's, American Express, Coca-Cola, Qantas, Optus, Ernst & Young, Gucci, Toyota and many government departments.
Kaplan Contribution
Academic Dean, Kaplan Business School
Academic Dean, Kaplan Professional
Chair, KBS Teaching & Learning Committee
Member, KBS Academic Board
Member, KBS Grade Ratification and Assessment Committee
DR JACINTA KELLY
Academic Qualifications
- PhD (UNSW)
- Bachelor of Arts (UNSW, Hons 1)
- MBA (Sydney University, ongoing)
Career Overview
Dr Jacinta Kelly is the Associate Dean, Teaching and Learning, at Kaplan Business School. She brings over 15 years of experience in academic leadership across Australia’s higher education sector and has led multidisciplinary teams in large universities, not for profit organisations, and private institutions. Her committee leadership has included chairing Teaching and Learning, Board of Examiners, and Curriculum Committees in multiple organisations. Prior to joining KBS, Jacinta was the National Director of Education at the Australian College of Nursing where she led TEQSA accreditation processes, the Reconciliation Action Plan and national projects such as the COVID vaccination training program and aged care transition to practice program. She was previously also the Senior Manager of education innovation at UNSW. She has published broadly across literature, media, archive sciences and education, and she is currently an associate editor of the Journal of Applied Learning and Teaching.
Kaplan Contribution
Chair, Teaching and Learning Committee
Chair, Board of Examiners
Member, Grade Ratification an Assessment Committee
DR SAUD KAHN
Academic Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering & Computer Science), The Australian National University
- Master of Business Administration (Project Management & International Leadership), Kaplan Business School
- Master of Engineering (IT Convergence Engineering), Kumoh National Institute of Technology
- Bachelor of Science (Electrical Engineering), National University of Computer & Emerging Sciences
- Graduate Certificate in Higher Education (Learning & Teaching), Deakin University
Career Overview
Dr Saud Khan is the Academic Director of Data Science & Analytics discipline at Kaplan Business School (KBS), providing strategic and academic leadership across data science, business analytics, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity areas. Since joining KBS in 2023, he has progressed from Lecturer in IT to Academic Head of IT and then to his current national discipline leadership role across the school's six campuses. He has led major course accreditation and reaccreditation initiatives, translated emerging industry and regulatory requirements into applied curricula, and advanced the responsible use of generative AI, secure virtual laboratories and learning analytics in teaching and learning. His contribution to AI-enabled education was recognised with the global Kaplan Way Award for Continuous Transformation.
Saud is also a Visiting Researcher at The Australian National University, where his work centres on cybersecurity, privacy-preserving machine learning, Internet of Things security, and secure terrestrial and non-terrestrial communications. He has published widely in leading IEEE and Elsevier venues, holds two patents, and has contributed to more than A$420,000 in externally funded research, including Australian Research Council grants. He collaborates with academic and industry partners across Australia, Asia, Europe and North America, including CSIRO and Princeton University, and is a committed researcher and supervisor advancing secure, responsible technologies.
Kaplan Contribution
Academic Director (Data Science & Analytics), Kaplan Business School
Member, Kaplan Business School Academic Board
Member, Kaplan Business School Board of Examiners Committee
Member, Kaplan Business School Teaching & Learning Committee
Member, Kaplan Business School Grade Ratification & Assessment Committee
DR FRANCKY FOUEDJIO
Academic Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy (Geostatistics)
- Master of Science by Research (Applied Mathematics)
- Master of Science (Statistics & Econometrics)
- Bachelor of Engineering (Applied Statistics)
Career Overview
Francky Fouedjio is a Senior Lecturer at Kaplan Business School, an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at Edith Cowan University, and a Senior RioExpert and Principal at Rio Tinto. His work sits at the intersection of geostatistics, data science, optimization, and artificial intelligence, with a focus on developing data driven and AI enabled solutions that enhance operational performance, reduce uncertainty, and unlock value from complex datasets in the mining industry. He has authored more than 25 peer reviewed publications, served on editorial boards, and contributed to international scientific committees.
Kaplan Contribution
Senior Lecturer, Kaplan Business School
Subject Coordinator, Kaplan Business School
Member, KBS Board of Examiners
Member, KBS Academic Board
CHANDUR DISSANAYAKE
Academic Qualifications
- Currently completing a Master of Information Technology, specialising in Cyber Security, at Kaplan Business School.
- Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Information Technology, specialising in Software Engineering.
- Contributor to technical research presented at the International Conference on Advancements in Computing and published through IEEE Xplore.
- Recipient of the Kaplan Business School Dean’s Award 2026.
Career Overview
Purveyor of DevOps, Chandur Dissanayake is a Technical Lead in DevOps at RedOwl in Australia with over eight years of professional experience across platform engineering, cloud architecture, DevSecOps and cybersecurity. He has designed and delivered secure, scalable and highly available enterprise and government platforms across AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud, including complex environments supporting large-scale digital services and millions of users.
His technical expertise includes infrastructure provisioning with Terraform, Kubernetes architecture and governance, Helm-based application delivery, CI/CD automation, GitOps workflows, service mesh implementation, disaster recovery, multi-region failover, DMZ architecture, observability, production release management, performance optimisation and incident response. He also serves as RedOwl’s ISO ISMS Owner and CISO, leading information security governance, risk management, security controls and ISO 27001 readiness.
Alongside his industry experience, Chandur contributes to the broader technology and education community through professional leadership, student advocacy, mentoring and strategic industry partnerships.
Kaplan Contribution
Member of the Kaplan Business School Academic Board, contributing to academic governance and representing student perspectives in strategic discussions.
Kaplan Business School Peer Mentor, supporting students with their academic development, university experience and professional growth.
Kaplan Business School Student Ambassador, representing the institution and engaging with prospective and current students.
Recipient of the Kaplan Business School Dean’s Award in recognition of academic achievement, leadership and contribution to the student community.
Lead - Sponsorships and Strategic Partnerships within the Australian Computer Society Emerging Professionals Committee, developing industry relationships and supporting professional opportunities for emerging technology professionals.