Academic Board
MEMBERS
DR MIKE 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
PATRICK GALLAGHER
Adjunct Lecturer – Department of Accounting and Corporate Governance, Macquarie University
Academic Qualifications
· LLM: (University of Sydney)
· MCom (UNSW)
· BCom (UNSW)
· LLB (UNSW)
· Fellow of CPA Australia
· Chartered Tax Adviser of Taxation Institute of Australia
Professional Qualifications
· FASSA
· FCPA
Career Overview
Patrick Gallagher has board experience in a number of entities in the university, public and private sector – including at ASX listed entity level. He is currently an adjunct staff member and lecturer-in-charge of courses at Macquarie University at Masters level. He is also an instructor within the CPA Program of CPA Australia and from 2004 to 2012 was a consultant, instructor and review examiner for CPA Australia Greater China (including a period as review examiner for exams jointly held with the Hong Kong Institute of CPAs).
He was formerly an Associate Professor in the Law Faculty at UNSW (which included co-founding and acting as Director of the Australian Taxation Studies Program) with various other responsibilities including – a member of University Committees and also a member of university entities’ Boards of Directors. He has also been an Associate Professor in the Law Faculty at the University of Western Sydney which included a period as Director, re-constructing the MCom (Financial Planning) degree.
Patrick has extensive domestic and international experience, including as Australian Director of ‘AusAid’ programs in China. His experience extends to strategy development (including as strategy consultant to the large Chinese corporation TsingHua TongFang), governance, company and taxation law and finance and risk management.
Patrick was the Founding President of the Australasian Tax Teachers’ Association and is currently an adviser and governance consultant to organisations in the not-for-profit sector (including charitable and religious organisations).
Patrick is also the author of many papers and publications in Australia and overseas. This includes the former Australian Vice-Chancellor’s Committee, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the World Bank, the Ford Foundation and various universities including UNSW and Potsdam University. He has also presented at conferences and seminars of the Australian Taxation Institute. He is currently Author for CPA Australia “CPA118 Ethics and Governance” segment which is studied by approximately 11,000 CPA candidates each year. Author/co-author of the majority of assessable written educational materials for since 2011 to the present (S1 2014).
Patrick is also the sole Director of a specialist consulting company and in this capacity, he provides practical advice on many aspects of governance, tax and risk.
Current Responsibilities
Managing Director, Governance Tax & Risk Pty Ltd
Consultant to IGAP at Macquarie University
Kaplan Contribution
Member, Kaplan Business School Academic Board
PROFESSOR TANIA ASPLAND
Qualifications
· Doctor of Philosophy
· Master of Education
· Bachelor of Education
· Bachelor of Arts
· Diploma of Teaching
Career Overview
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 is also the current President of the Australian Council of Deans of Education and sits 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 Higher Education Academic Board
Member, Kaplan Business School Academic Board
PROFESSOR JAMES ADONOPOULOS
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
Chair, KBS Teaching & Learning Committee
Member, KBS Academic Board
Member, KBS Grade Ratification and Assessment Committee
DR 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 Higher Education Academic Board
Member, Kaplan Business School Academic Board
Chair, Murdoch Institute of Technology Grade Ratification & Assessment Committee
Chair, Kaplan Professional Grade Ratification & Assessment Committee
Chair, Kaplan Business School Grade Ratification & Assessment Committee
PROFESSOR MEREDITH LAWLEY
Academic Qualifications
· Doctor of Philosophy, USC
· Master of Business, USC
· Bachelor of Business, UQ
Career overview
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
PROFESSOR ROBIN WOELLNER
Academic Qualifications
· Bachelor of Arts/Law
Career Overview
Robin Woellner was Pro Vice-Chancellor (Law, Business and the Creative Arts), James Cook University, Townsville and prior to that the Foundation Dean of the Faculty of Law and Foundation Dean of the College of Law and Business at University of Western Sydney. He has also served in various executive positions including as Vice President of the Australian Business Deans Council.
Robin is the lead author of Australia's pre-eminent tax textbook - Australian Taxation Law - has researched and published extensively, and is a respected commentator on all tax matters.
Kaplan Contribution
Member, Kaplan Business School Academic Board
Member, Kaplan Higher Education Academic Board
VANESSA STAFFORD
Academic Qualifications
- Master of Learning Sciences and Technology
- Bachelor of Arts: Society, Life, and Learning
- TESOL Certificate
Career Overview
Vanessa Stafford is the Academic Learning Manager at Kaplan Business School. She designs and manages the Academic Professional Development Program of all Kaplan Business School educators, as well as providing training opportunities for other educators with the Kaplan family. She contributes to subject writing and teaching and oversees the subject development of the four business disciplines to ensure best practice in instructional and pedagogical design. Vanessa was an English language teacher at Kaplan International Languages for four years, with her EALD teaching career beginning in Vietnam in 2006 – combining her passion for education and travel. Her current career focus is in the areas of gamification, blended learning, and tech-supported heutagogy to support both students and faculty, which has resulted so far in three published EdTech journal articles for the JALT publication. Vanessa is preparing to begin a Doctor of Education is this area in 2023.
Kaplan Contribution
- Facilitator, Kaplan Performance Academy: Diversity and Inclusion Workshops
- Member, Kaplan Business School Academic Board
- Member, Kaplan Business School Teaching and Learning Committee
DR DJURO MIRKOVIC
Academic Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering), Swinburne University of Technology
- Graduate Certificate in Higher Education Curriculum, Teaching and Learning, La Trobe University
- Bachelor of Engineering (Telecommunication and Network Engineering) First Class Honours, Swinburne University of Technology
- Bachelor of Science (Computer Science and Software Engineering) First Class Honours, Swinburne University of Technology
- Certified Professional Member of Australian Computer Society
Career Overview
Dr Djuro Mirkovic is the Academic Director of Information Technology, and is responsible for the quality and delivery of the Information Technology (IT) courses for Kaplan Business School (KBS). Djuro’s overall purpose with KBS is to provide academic leadership to academic heads, subject coordinators, and academics, to inspire innovation and to maintain high standards within the IT faculty. Djuro’s role involves advanced course development, contemporary pedagogical methods, faculty staffing, and an extensive range of administrative functions. Prior to joining KBS, Djuro was an academic member at Swinburne University of Technology (Hawthorn campus) and La Trobe University (online). Djuro has a strong academic interest in the areas of IT, cyber security, telecommunication and network engineering, blockchain, data science, computer science, cryptography, and pedagogy.
Kaplan Contribution
- Academic Director (Information Technology), Kaplan Business School
- Member, Kaplan Business School Academic Board
DR ALI TAMADDONI
Academic Qualifications
- Graduate Certificate Higher Education, Learning and Teaching (Deakin University)
- PhD Marketing- Quantitative (Monash University)
- Masters (Lulea University of Technology)
- 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, Kaplan Business School Academic Board
LUCAS GORANSKY
Academic Qualifications
- Master of Business Administration
- Bachelor of Business Economics
Career Overview
Lucas is currently completing a Master of Business Administration, specialising in Entrepreneurship at Kaplan Business School (KBS). In addition to being the Student Representative on the KBS Academic Board, Lucas is also a Student Ambassador which involves enabling a sense of community and enhancing student engagement. Lucas works at Cascade, a SaaS Startup based in Sydney where he is the Head of the Strategy Factory, the content vertical of the business. Previously, he was the Success Manager and Lead Educator of the Academy of Entrepreneurs, a VET School based in Pyrmont. In 2020, Lucas was the Curator and organiser of TEDx Darlinghurst, TEDx’s first event dedicated entirely to climate change.
Kaplan Contribution
- KBS Student Representative, Kaplan Business School Academic Board