Fang Zhao

Professor Fang Zhao is a business strategist and advisor mainly in the areas of digital transformation, digital disruption, and environmental sustainability. She has provided consultancy and advisory services to governments, industry, and businesses. She has led and/or undertaken a number of research and industry projects funded by governments, industry/businesses, and universities, including the Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Grant, an Australian Federal Government grant, the British Academy grant, and the UKRI-Global Challenges Research Fund. She has published over 120 peer-reviewed research works internationally, many of them in leading journals in the study fields.

Professor Zhao has worked in several senior academic leadership positions internationally, including Associate Dean - Research and Enterprise in Staffordshire Business School of Staffordshire University, the United Kingdom, the Associate Dean – Management at School of Business and Law of Edith Cowan University, Australia, the Professor and Head of the School of Management and Public Administration of the University of the South Pacific, and Professor and Acting Head of Management Department at the School of Business and Management (AACSB-Accredited) of the American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

Being a proud global citizen and a strong advocate for international education, Professor Zhao has extensive teaching experience at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels including MBA, Executive MBA, DBA. and successful PhD supervision completions. She has worked and lived in several countries cross continents, including Australia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, the South Pacific, and the United Kingdom.

Research and Enterprise Projects and Grants:
- Staffordshire Connected & Intelligent Mobility Innovation Accelerator jointed funded under European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Role: Board Member & Advisor (2021)
- Global Challenges Research Fund – UKRI/Research England. Role: Principal Investigator. Project title ‘Policy Framework for Achieving Sustainable - Poverty Alleviation in Less Developed Rural Regions in China’. (2020-21)
British Academy Special Research Grant – Covid-19. Role: Co-Investigator. Project title: ‘The Impact of COVID-19 on BAME Owned Businesses in the UK’. (2020-21)
- Smart Cities and Suburbs Program (Australia Federal Government funding). Yellagonga Wetlands Smart Monitoring Project. Role: Project advisor and researcher of Edith Cowan University as a partnering organization in this joint project with Cities of Joondalup and Wanneroo (WA) and industry partners (2017-2019)