Rutgers Business School professor Farok J. Contractor named 34th president of the Academy of International Business (AIB)

Farok Contractor, distinguished professor of management and global business at Rutgers Business School, assumed the role of president of the Academy of International Business (AIB) on August 1, 2021. The AIB is an association of around 3,500 members worldwide, mainly academics and a few strategists studying global business, with 13 chapters in 89 countries in seven regions around the globe.

“As AIB president, professor Contractor will be piloting our academy at a time when, worldwide, there are still great uncertainties,” said outgoing AIB President Jeremy Clegg, Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration & International Business Management at the University of Leeds.

“He has already achieved great things for our academy in South Asia through his leadership,” Clegg said. “We are now able to look forward to a most promising future, notwithstanding the current crisis.” Professor Contractor is in the middle of a three-year term (2020 – 2023) on the AIB’s executive board.

Professor Contractor is the second member of the Rutgers Business School faculty to serve in this capacity, a significant honor in the field of international business.

Established in 1959, AIB is a leading association of international business scholars and specialists. It publishes the Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS), the premier scholarly journal in the field of international business.

“Over the years, Farok has contributed significantly to the AIB and to international business scholarship,” said Lei Lei, dean of Rutgers Business School. “This is a great honor for Farok and for Rutgers Business School.”

Here are some examples of professor Contractor’s contributions to the AIB and international business scholarship:

• His leadership role on the AIB board as president-elect in the AIB’s regional expansions in East Asia and South Asia [see article].
• An early analysis on the efforts to “flatten the COVID curve,” published on April 6, 2020, before it became a global public policy issue [see article].
• An interview with professor Contractor conducted as part of AIB’s “Frontline IB” video series, which highlights professional insights from leading scholars [watch video].
• In 2019, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Journal of International Business Studies  he was among a select group who received a silver medal for scholarly contributions to the field

As AIB president, Contractor and the AIB board will determine the strategic direction, effectiveness, and efficient organization of the AIB, oversee the activities of international chapters and Special Interest Groups such as Research Methods Group and the Emerging Markets Group.

He will also preside over efforts to secure additional funding from foundations and Centers for International Business Education and Research (CIBERs) funded by the U.S. Department of Education, to build AIB’s presence in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.   

Previously, Contractor served as chair of the former International Business and Business Environment Department and as research director of the Rutgers Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER). He was instrumental in building Rutgers Business School’s reputation in international business scholarship and research by attracting leading scholars, including the late Rutgers University professor John Dunning, who also served as president of the AIB from 1987 to 1988.

Learn more about Rutgers Business School’s department of management and global business.

For managers and students, Prof. Contractor also posts relevant articles at https://globalbusiness.blog which has been read by persons in 172 countries.

For media inquiries, contact: Daniel J. Stoll, 973-353-5879, dstoll@business.rutgers.edu.