Professor Payyazhi Jayashree is Dean, and Full Professor in Management, School of Business, University of Wollongong in Dubai, UAE with over fifteen years of experience in strategic leadership roles in a transnational higher education context, including as Associate Dean at the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD). She has an impactful track record in providing strategic leadership for the School of Business, UOWD and a strong reputation for aligning and inspiring teams, leading the school to be ranked as the top single campus Dubai Business School in the Scimago Institution Rankings (2024), with the ranking system based on 50% Research Quality and Quantity, 30% on Innovation and 20% Societal impact (2024).

Professor Jayashree is consistently ranked as a transformative and innovative educator, with twenty years of teaching, scholarship and practice, in ‘Strategic Change and Business transformation’, with a focus on building strategic insights, to drive fundamental changes in a disruptive business context. Her contributions have led to multiple awards and commendations for teaching and learning innovation and impact. These include, the University of Wollongong, Australia, Vice-Chancellors award for ‘Excellence in Global Strategy’ (2022), and UOWD award for MBA global collaboration impact (2022), for implementing and scaling a collaborative global model of teaching MBA students. She has also been consistently ranked in the top one percent of teaching evaluations, with several awards including ITC Award for Excellence in Teaching and Related Duties, University of Wollongong Enterprise, Australia (2010-2011), and Excellence in Teaching Award, University of Wollongong in Dubai, UAE (2009-2010), and multiple nominations for teaching excellence, including for Vice Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to Teaching and learning (OCTAL) (2017), UOW, Australia, and for Excellence in Teaching Award, University of Wollongong in Dubai, UAE (2011-2012 & 2008-2009), and Highly Commended in recognition of Excellence in Teaching and Related Duties by ITC group of Companies, a University of Wollongong Enterprise, Australia (November 2008). She also has extensive experience in leading executive development programs,, with nearly ten years’ experience as program director for a highly successful program that she has co-taught at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, for senior executives from industry, with a particular focus on building competencies in Strategic thinking and Leading Strategic Turnarounds. 

Besides being a passionate and committed educator for close to two decades, Professor Jayashree has a strong track record of research contributions to both SDG5 (Gender Equality) and SDG6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) goals, with multiple awards, grants and collaborations. Her strong interest in applied research has led to building a strong track road of winning competitive external grants in areas of strategic significance to organisations. These include harnessing Generative AI in the Workforce and Al Bias, Inclusive Smart Cities and the Future of Work, Global Challenges Grant (2022, 2023, 2024), with collaborators, including global AI experts and scholars, including from Arizona State University. In recent years she has been increasingly involved in research on how digital disruptions and AI impact inclusivity and Career Capital development. The outcomes of her research in #SDG 5 has led to global recognition and substantial media coverage, including uptake by prominent scholarly publications, such as Personnel Review (ABDC A), and extensive press coverage in the region, such as Emirates Women, Forbes Middle East, among others, with several grants and awards including University-Industry Research Collaboration Award awarded by H.E Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahayan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, UAE.

Professor Jaya’s international reputation as a practising scholar in Strategic Change and Business Transformation for the last two decades, and her sustained contributions to sustainability goals, led her to be appointed as Board Member, Water for People (WFP), India Trust (2017 -2022) and Vice President of the Board for WFP India Trust (2021-2023) and being selected to the 2024 Board of Directors for WFP Denver, USA (2024 - ongoing).