Professor Ilesanmi Adesida is a successful scientist and administrator in both scientific and educational circles.
Prior to his appointment at Nazarbayev University, Professor Adesida served as Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He received his Bachelor of Science in 1974, Master of Science in 1975, and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 1979 (University of California, Berkeley). From 1979 to 1984, he served as a visiting researcher and assistant professor at Cornell University. Subsequently, he was Head of the Department ofShow full
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Mr Shigeo Katsu held the position of President of Nazarbayev University since December 2010 until June 2023.
Shigeo Katsu continues to serve as a member of its Board of Trustees, the Board of Trustees of the Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools, the Nazarbayev Fund, and the Supreme Board of Trustees. He also is the Advisor to the Acting President. Before Nazarbayev University, over a 30-year career at the World Bank, Mr Shigeo Katsu held various positions including leading financial sector reform support for China, Director for Cote d’Ivoire, and Vice President for Europe and Central Asia. After heShow full
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Argin Kipshakov graduated from Moscow Machine Tool Institute majoring in “Automation of Technological Processes and Production” and from the Institute of Market at Kazakh State Academy of Management majoring in “Finance and Credit”.
Since 1994, he has worked for the tax authorities. From 2008 to 2014, he held the position Deputy Chairman of the Tax Committee of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan, from 2015 to 2018 – Deputy Chairman of the State Revenue Committee of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan. He worked on the Tax Administration Reform Project, where the business processes of the tax authorities we redesigned and reformed in consultation with the World Bank. Moreover, under theShow full
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Mrs. Dairova graduated from Almaty State Teachers’ Institute of Foreign Languages, with a specialty in “English Language”.
She holds a degree of Candidate of Philological Sciences from Moscow Teachers’ Institute of Foreign Languages. Earlier, she worked as the Third Secretary of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the USA; and the Second Secretary of the Department of American, and European Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Mrs. Dairova was an Associate Professor of the Diplomatic Academy of the Kazakh State University, and a founder and president of the publiclyShow full
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Dr. Massimo Pignatelli, MD, Ph.D., a distinguished pathologist and biomedical scientist, prior to his appointment held the position of the Dean of Nazarbayev University School of Medicine (NUSOM), which was formally established in January 2014.
Before coming to NUSOM in November 2013, Dr. Pignatelli was at the University of Glasgow School of Medicine, where he served as international lead in the College of Medical, Veterinary, and Life Sciences and head of the School of Medicine, which includes the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, and Nursing and Health Care. He also held the St. Mungo-Notman Chair as head of pathology. Dr. Pignatelli joined the University of Glasgow in 2011 following an academic career at Imperial College, London asShow full
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Dr. Loretta O’Donnell was appointed in 2013 as the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan.
She also served as Interim Provost in 2016. As the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Dr. O’Donnell coordinates with Deans to develop international quality academic systems for educational programs. She liaises with Nazarbayev University strategic partners, including Duke, National University of Singapore and University of Wisconsin-Madison to implement the academic mission of the University and to share NU experiences with local and regional universities. Dr. O’Donnell is the co-founder andShow full
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Professor Tourassis is an international higher education administrator and transformational leader with diverse experience in multi-cultural environments, in building academic programs and in enabling organizations to transition to the next level.
He has been with Nazarbayev University, serving continuously in various capacities, since 2012. He has been awarded a Presidential Letter of Gratitude from the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan for “personal contributions to the development of higher education” in the country. His international career spans a range of institutions and roles. He was previously a Research Fellow at Carnegie-Mellon’s Robotics Institute, a tenured Professor at the University of Rochester in New YorkShow full
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Dr. Chester Jablonski is an experienced academic administrator in graduate education. He was appointed as Dean of Graduate Studies at Memorial University in St. John’s Newfoundland Canada in 1997, Dean of Graduate Studies at Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates in 2008, and Associate Provost of Graduate Studies at Nazarbayev University in 2018.
Dr. Chester Jablonski is an experienced academic administrator in graduate education. He was appointed as Dean of Graduate Studies at Memorial University in St. John’s Newfoundland Canada in 1997, Dean of Graduate Studies at Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates in 2008, and Associate Provost of Graduate Studies at Nazarbayev University in 2018. In his current role as Vice Provost for Research, Dr. Jablonski assists the Provost in providing a supportive and nurturing culture thatShow full
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Doctor Luis Ramon Rojas-Solórzano is a visionary, strategic and proactive academic leader who has built a successful career in higher education for more than 30 years. He got his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering in 1997 at Carnegie Mellon University, USA.
He started his academic career in 1988 after a 3-year stance in the industry. He got his Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering and MSc in Hydraulics Engineering at the Universidad Simón Bolívar, Venezuela (1985, 1991), which was the place where he grew his first 25 years in academia, retiring as a tenured Full-Professor in 2013. Doctor Rojas-Solórzano has been a visiting professor and scientist in the USA (Carnegie Mellon University, Phillips-Respironics, DRESSER-RAND), FranceShow full
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Chris Handley is the first Chief Information Officer of Nazarbayev University, a position he has held since October 2018.
Chris is leading the digital transformation at the University by developing an IT Strategy that supports NU’s strategic goals and objectives, and also selecting an enabling technology platform for NU. Prior to joining Nazarbayev University, Chris was the first CIO at Aga Khan University and Hospitals managing IT in 6 countries across Asia, Africa and the UK for seven years. Included in his experience are IT leadership positions either both in full time or interim roles at the University ofShow full
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