Professor Beena Giridharan is the Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor at Curtin University, Sarawak, Malaysia. In her role, she reports to the Pro Vice-Chancellor, and provides academic, financial, strategic, and administrative leadership to Curtin Sarawak, with a particular focus on academic operational efficiency. Prior to taking on this position, Beena was the Dean for Learning and Teaching at Curtin University, Sarawak from 2011-2016. She attained a doctoral degree in Applied Linguistics and Education from Curtin University, Western Australia. She has a first class Masters’ degree in English Language and Literature and a first class Bachelor’s Degree in Science. Her research and academic interests include: vocabulary acquisition in ESL, educational administration and leadership; higher education practices, transnational education, work-integrated learning, and ethno-linguistic studies in indigenous communities. As a member of an OLT (Office of Learning and Teaching, Australia) funded project entitled ‘Learning without Borders’ she has investigated leadership roles in Trans-National Education (TNE) and internationalization of curriculum. Beena has been a fellow of the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA) since 2006. She mentors aspiring HERDSA fellows, and is a panel assessor for HERDSA fellowship portfolios. She won the 2006 Carrick Australian Award for University Teaching, and the 2006 Curtin University, Australia, Excellence in Teaching and Innovation award. Beena Giridharan was a visiting professor at the Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA between 2007- 2008. She is an associate editor for the IAFOR Journal of Education, USA, and a reviewer for a number of international journals in higher education. Her publications include a book on Vocabulary Acquisition Patterns in Adult Tertiary (ESL) Learners( 2013), an international handbook on Transnational Education: Leadership in transnational education and internationalization of curriculum, several book chapters, and publications in journals and refereed conferences. She is often invited as keynote speaker and plenary speaker at a number of higher education conferences regionally and internationally.
