Academic Leadership Team

Prof. Hew Gill

President & Provost

Professor Hew Gill has spent most of his career as a global entrepreneur and business leader, and has also held public office and worked in international banking and the media. He has served as a chair, governor, trustee and lay member of various educational, charitable and professional organisations in the UK, Singapore and Malaysia.

Professor Gill studied at several world-class institutions including St Anne’s College, Oxford University, Leeds University Business School, and the Derek Bok Center, Harvard University. His research interests are primarily focused on the structure of human personality and related brain systems, and education. Professor Gill is a UK Chartered Psychologist, Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society, Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and a member of many other learned societies including the American, British, Malaysian and Singaporean Psychological Societies.

Prof. Muhammad Ismail Hossain

Dean of Academic Affairs

Muhammad Ismail Hossain is a Professor and Dean of Academic Affairs, Monash & LSE Program at Universal College Bangladesh. He is on leave from his earlier appointment as Professor of Marketing at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Prof. Hossain received his Ph.D. in consumer behavior from Monash University, Australia. He is an MBA from the University of Dhaka and also has a Master’s degree in International Business from the University of Melbourne, Australia.

His research interests lie in the fields of tourism, consumer behavior, and supply chain management. He is one of the co-authors of the book Social Media Storms: Empowering Leadership beyond Crisis Management published by Routledge. He has more than 50 publications including books, research monographs, journal articles, newspaper articles, and keynote papers. His work has been published in many international high-impact journals such as the Journal of Supply Chain Management, Journal of Travel Research, Tourism Recreation Research, Sustainability, Current Issues in Tourism, International Journal of Tourism Research, and Journal of City, Culture, and Society among others. He is an editorial board member of the Journal of Travel Research, the leading tourism journal in the world.

He has received a notable amount of external research funding locally as well as internationally as part of various international and local research groups. The value of such local and international funding is BDT 1.06 crores and USD 827,873 respectively. As a consultant, he worked for government projects, not-for-profits, and for-profit local and international organizations.

Mr Shafik Waes

Head of Registry

Shafik Waes is Head of the Registry, and Academic Administration at Universal College Bangladesh. He received his BSS and MSS degrees in Social Sciences from University of Dhaka. He held different positions at reputed private universities including Brac University and East-West University, particularly at the office of the Registrar in the academic registry, and examinations office for the last twenty years as a Deputy Controller of Examinations and a Deputy Registrar respectively.

He has substantial work experience in managing academic affairs as well as institutional quality assurance at the tertiary level of education.

Mr. Pankaj Puri

Head of Enrollement

Mr. Puri brings 16 years of extensive expertise in Education Management, Student Recruitment, Sales, and Marketing. In his recent role as Assistant Director – Marketing & Admissions at Rayat Bahra University, he successfully led nationwide and international recruitment campaigns. His leadership in traditional marketing, digital marketing, lead management, and strategic partnerships has significantly contributed to institutional growth.Throughout his career, he has held key positions at ICFAI University, Pune Institute of Business Management, Adept Institute of Education, and Smarttalk Netcom Pvt. Ltd., excelling in business development, team training, and marketing strategy execution. His expertise extends to counseling, student retention, channel partner management, and stakeholder collaboration.

Academically, Mr. Puri holds an Executive PG Certificate in Digital Marketing & Analytics from IIT Roorkee and an Executive Programme in Marketing Analytics from IIM Lucknow, both of which are among the top institutions in India. He has also completed a Postgraduate Program in Planning and Entrepreneurship (Marketing) from IIPM, New Delhi and a Bachelor of Computer Applications (BCA) from Punjabi University.

Prof. Muhammad Ismail Hossain

Dean of Academic Affairs

Muhammad Ismail Hossain is a Professor and Dean of Academic Affairs, Monash & LSE Program at Universal College Bangladesh. He is on leave from his earlier appointment as Professor of Marketing at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Prof. Hossain received his Ph.D. in consumer behavior from Monash University, Australia. He is an MBA from the University of Dhaka and also has a Master’s degree in International Business from the University of Melbourne, Australia. His research interests lie in the fields of tourism, consumer behavior, and supply chain management. He is one of the co-authors of the book Social Media Storms: Empowering Leadership beyond Crisis Management published by Routledge. He has more than 50 publications including books, research monographs, journal articles, newspaper articles, and keynote papers. His work has been published in many international high-impact journals such as the Journal of Supply Chain Management, Journal of Travel Research, Tourism Recreation Research, Sustainability, Current Issues in Tourism, International Journal of Tourism Research, and Journal of City, Culture, and Society among others. He is an editorial board member of the Journal of Travel Research, the leading tourism journal in the world. He has received a notable amount of external research funding locally as well as internationally as part of various international and local research groups. The value of such local and international funding is BDT 1.06 crores and USD 827,873 respectively. As a consultant, he worked for government projects, not-for-profits, and for-profit local and international organizations.

Mr Shafik Waes

Head of Registry

Shafik Waes is Head of the Registry, and Academic Administration at Universal College Bangladesh. He received his BSS and MSS degrees in Social Sciences from University of Dhaka. He held different positions at reputed private universities including Brac University and East-West University, particularly at the office of the Registrar in the academic registry, and examinations office for the last twenty years as a Deputy Controller of Examinations and a Deputy Registrar respectively. He has substantial work experience in managing academic affairs as well as institutional quality assurance at the tertiary level of education.

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