Dr. Raihan Taqui Syed is an esteemed academician, administrator, author, advisor, consultant, entrepreneur, editor, researcher, and reviewer. With nearly two decades of academic and industry experience, he is dedicated to building society-centric, entrepreneurial institutions. His expertise spans across Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Family Business, Organizational Change & Development, Strategy, and Higher Education Management. His professional journey has taken him across Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, and the UK, providing him with a rich international perspective.
Dr. Raihan was the founding director of the Center for Entrepreneurship & Business Incubation at a college in Oman and co-founded an educational startup in India. He has mentored and advised student startups in India, Oman, and the UAE. Currently, he serves as an Entrepreneurship Faculty member at the College of Business & Economics, United Arab Emirates University – a QS 5-star university ranked among the Top 5 in the Arab region and Top 300 globally in QS and Times Higher Education world rankings. His commitment to academic entrepreneurship is further highlighted by his role as the proponent and co-chair of the Academic Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurial University Track at the European Academy of Management (EURAM) international conference.
Dr. Raihan holds a doctorate in Business Administration from the University of Bradford, UK, with his research focusing on developing an entrepreneurial higher education institution in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. He also holds an MBA from James Cook University, Australia, where he was recognized for academic excellence. Additionally, he was one of three scholarship recipients from Asia selected by the European Union-sponsored Erasmus Mundus consortium to pursue a master's degree in Education Management and Innovation from the University of Granada, Spain, and as an exchange student in Norway. These universities are highly ranked in global standings, such as QS and Times Higher Education rankings. Dr. Raihan is also a Certified Management & Business Educator awarded by the Chartered Association of Business Schools, UK; Certified Entrepreneurship Educator, London South Bank University, UK; IBM Certified Enterprise Design Thinking Practitioner; and Certified Entrepreneurial Mindset & Leadership Professional, Babson College, USA.
Dr. Raihan has a high cultural quotient, having studied, worked, and traveled across more than 20 countries. As an active peer reviewer and author, he has over 20 publications in high-ranked indexed journals, books, and international conferences. He has delivered more than 20 invited talks worldwide and has been a chief guest, keynote speaker, session chair, panel member, and jury member at national and international events across various countries. He is deeply involved in social causes, supporting economically backward families and facilitating basic education for children in his hometown of Mysore, Karnataka, India, along with his family and friends.
