ACADEMIC BOARD
Dr Melody Anderson
Chair
Melody is an experienced associate dean with a demonstrated history of working in the higher education sector. Skilled in leadership, policy development and analysis, teacher performance assessment, criterion-based assessment, curriculum development and educational research, Melody’s expertise and experience is at the nexus of post-graduate teacher education, professional degree programs and program accreditation.
Melody is a chief investigator in numerous research projects with a focus on evidence-based teaching in initial teacher education programs and the development of models for researching the effectiveness of teacher education programs. Melody is also actively engaged in the development and implementation of measures of effective teaching performance for pre-service and practicing teachers. She regularly publishes and presents at local and international conferences in these key areas. Melody supervises the projects of graduate researchers (PhD) from commencement through to submission of thesis.
As an educational consultant, Melody provides strategic advice to prospective higher education providers as they work towards approval of programs with national and statutory regulators, compliance with relevant standards and frameworks, and accreditation with professional bodies. Melody is a member of the Victorian Institute of Teaching Accreditation Expert Group, participating regularly in the process for accreditation of initial teacher education programs for Australian universities and higher education providers.
Professor Chris Tisdell
Chris Tisdell is Professor of Mathematics and a Fellow of UNSW’s Scientia Education Academy. He is also an Honorary Professor of STEM & Digital Education at UQ (Brisbane). Education is his vocation - a voice, calling from within him since he was a young. In Chris's mind, education forms a place where a personal passion intersects with the world's deep need. Education is what he has been doing with his life that makes a personal difference and will form part of his legacy - something that be looked back on in later years to see the meaningful impact on the world.
Chris is best known for his innovative contributions to digital education that have explored the challenges of scale, flexibility and personalised learning. His online teaching efforts have influenced millions of learners around the world via his YouTube channel and e-textbooks. A teacher at heart, the quality and impact of his work on student learning has been recognised at national and international levels, through fellowships and prestigious awards for educational excellence, including diversity and inclusion.
As Associate Dean (Education), Chris has been responsible for improving the quality, recognition, and transparency of teaching across 600 courses within the Faculty of Science, spearheading UNSW’s 2025 Strategy. This includes 30 programs and 10,000 students within the Faculty of Science at UNSW, and leading TEQSA re-registrations and chairing program reviews. Chris promotes innovation in education through public engagement and thought leadership at national and international levels as an expert and public figure. He is proud to collaborate with key partners within the education industry, ensuring continuous improvement and collaborative advantage.
Chris holds a PG Cert (Digital Education) from the University of Edinburgh, a PhD (Mathematics) and a BA (Hons I) from the University of Queensland.
Emeritus Professor Prem Ramburuth
Prem Ramburuth is Emeritus Professor at UNSW (2021). Until recently, she has been Professor in International Business in the School of Management, UNSW Sydney, Australia. She has held several leadership positions at UNSW including Immediate Past President of the Academic Board, Associate Dean Education, Associate Dean Undergraduate Programs, Head of School of Management, Foundation Director of the Business School Academic Development Centre, Deputy Director of the UNSW Learning Centre, and Director of Overseas English Language Programs at the UNSW Institute of Languages. She has taught and researched in Cross-Cultural Management in Business and Higher Education and is a member of several editorial boards including the Journal for Multicultural Education, International Journal of Emerging Markets and Chinese Management Studies. Her research and engagement focus on International Business and Emerging Economies, China’s Global Growth in Africa, Gender Equity and Empowerment in the Workplace, and Quality Assurance in Higher Education.
Emeritus Professor Ramburuth is the Academic Lead for Africa at the UNSW Institute for Global Development. She oversees transformative development programs in Africa in areas including capacity building and training for academic staff, the establishment of accredited Teaching qualifications for University staff, and the establishment of Learning and Teaching infrastructure at Gulu University (Uganda). She is a PLuS Alliance Fellow and the Academic Lead for PLuS Africa, and, in this capacity, is involved in the establishment of PhD Institutes in Engineering in Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria. Prem is also the Immediate Past Chair of the Academic Board, National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA); is on the Panel of Experts for the Australian Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency (TEQSA); and was a Higher Education Program Assessor for the Fiji National Higher Education Commission. She is currently Visiting Professor at Gulu University (Uganda), and has been Visiting Professor at VNU Hanoi Business School (Vietnam), University of Colorado (Denver), and University Tunku Abdul Rahman (Malaysia). She is the recipient of four national and international teaching awards, and the Dean’s Distinguished Leadership Award in the UNSW Business School (2019).
Emeritus Professor Graham Low
Emeritus Professor Graham Low was Professor of Information Systems and a former Head of the School of Information Systems, Technology and Management at UNSW. He was intimately involved in the curriculum development and delivery of both the undergraduate and postgraduate information systems programmes at UNSW. He was also Principal Advisor Professional Standards at the Australian Computer Society from 2013 till 2017.
Graham holds a PhD and BE in Chemical Engineering from the University of Queensland and is a Fellow of the Australian Computer Society.
Dr Amiya Bhaumik
Chief Executive Officer
Dr Amiya holds a Bachelor and double Master degrees, and a PhD in a number of disciplines such as biology, culture and psychology, and international management . He is a founder, former Vice Chancellor, and now President of Lincoln University College Malaysia which offers more than 95 programs including various PhDs and MBBS programs via 12 faculties.
He is a visionary leader for developing society via education and training . He has worked with many international organisations including Ottawa University, USA. While working with international universities he has gained various types of educational development work that include writing policies and strategies of education for a number of countries. He has travelled all the continents of world too more than 108 countries for his work.
Dr Amiya believes in Abraham Lincoln’s philosophy of providing education to each and every human being of the world. Further, that through education we can help each and every human being to manifest their hidden divinity, power, strength and scholarships of wisdom to the humanity. Dr Amiya terms this kind of activity as “WORK IS WORSHIP”.
Dr Ananda Wickramsinghe
Dr Wickramsinghe is a senior academic with over 20 years’ experience in higher education and as a senior consultant in strategic planning, contemporary management practices and business course development.
Ananda received his PhD in Strategic Management from the University of Queensland. He has 15 years of experience in various governance roles such as Sub Dean, Head of Students, Head of Learning and Teaching, Head of Discipline and Course Director. He also has years of experience in teaching Strategy, Design Thinking, International Business, Management, Entrepreneurship, Contemporary Leadership, Marketing, and HRM for undergraduate and postgraduate students in several countries including Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. Ananda has published more than 25 papers in ranked and peer-reviewed journals, and presented in several international conferences, and chaired conferences and sessions at international conferences.
Ananda holds a PhD in Strategic Management from the University of Queensland, a MCom from the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, and a BSc in Business Administration from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka.
Dr Helan Gamage
Dr Gamage gained her PhD from the University of Queensland in the field of Entrepreneurship. She has over 25 years of experience in working in Higher education sectors in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Sri Lanka. She has taught many subjects including Entrepreneurship, Innovation, HRM, International Business and Marketing at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. Helan has extensive experience in academic administration such as Director/Operations, Head of School, Course Director, and several academic governance roles in universities. She has published several ranked and peer reviewed journals and conference proceedings in the field of entrepreneurship and management over the last 20 years. Helan has presented and conducted several workshops in research and entrepreneur development. She is also a senior consultant to Private Higher Education Providers, and New Venture Development and Entrepreneurship.
Helan holds a Ph.D. (Entrepreneurship) from the University of Queensland, a MBA/MPA (Combined) from the Postgraduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka, and a B.Sc. (Hons.), Managing Finance & Taxation, 2nd class-upper division, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.
