Professor Beena Giridharan is currently the Dean, Office of Learning & Teaching at Curtin University Malaysia. In addition, she is the Country Director, Malaysia at the Higher Education Teaching and Learning (HETL) International Association.
She has been the Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor for almost 6 years at Curtin University, Malaysia. In her role, she reported to the Pro Vice-Chancellor and provided academic, financial, strategic, and administrative leadership to Curtin Sarawak, with a particular focus on academic operational efficiency.
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.
Beena Giridharan's 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. She continues to supervise Master of Philosophy and doctoral students.
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 a keynote speaker and plenary speaker at a number of higher education conferences regionally and internationally.
