Faculty

Part-time lecturer at RU and a Professor in the Faculty of Business Administration at the University of Iceland

Auður Arna received her PhD from Virginia Commonwealth University in Counselling Psychology and worked as a Clinical Psychologist at the National Hospital and in private practice for several years before her full-time position as an academic. Later, she completed a PLD degree from IESE business school and a CBT specialization degree from the University of Iceland.

Part-time lecturer at RU & Senior Lecturer in the Department of Production, Technology, and Operations Management at IESE Business School

Albert Girbal Puig is a Lecturer at the Operations Department and has a solid executive background in various industrial companies and consultancy firms.

After studying Industrial Engineering in Barcelona, he obtained two M.Sc. degrees in Energy Engineering and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and an EMBA at the EADA business school. He has held positions as General Manager or Industrial and Operations Manager in a range of industrial companies (plastics, heat insulation, printing, diamond dies, food, pumping equipment, textile), managing industrial assets both in Spain and in other parts of the world (Hungary, Poland, France, Brazil, Mexico, Korea, China, United States, Morocco, Portugal and Turkey). He has supported different types of organizations in launching products and services related to energy consumption within the consulting field.

As a consultant, he designs supply chain control and improvement plans for companies operating in various industries (short circuit textiles, industry, energy, capital goods, chemicals). Also, he performs advisory functions in entrepreneurship as an assessor and tutor for projects incubated at the Repsol Foundation Entrepreneurs Fund and in similar projects developed at the Institut Cerdà in his capacity as a member of its Technical Council.

His current fields of interest are the management of supply chains in general as a tool for competitive advantage in an increasingly globalized environment with intense pressure on costs and, in particular, on the short-circuit textile industry, which has transformed this industry during the last decade; the fostering and development of entrepreneurship and the best way to help bring to the market what initially are just innovative ideas; and the management of crises in organizations to diminish their vulnerability and increase their resilience.

Part-time lecturer at RU & Associate Professor in the Department of Production, Technology, and Operations Management, IESE Business

Alejandro Lago holds a PhD in Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, where he was distinguished as a Gordon F. Newell Fellow. He also holds a degree in civil engineering from the Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya and has completed a Program for Management Development at IESE Business School.

Dr. Lago's interests focus on managing complex operations systems for manufacturing and services environments. Early in his career, his research focused on optimizing large transport and distribution systems and the design and operations of logistics partnerships. Currently, his research interest has gradually shifted to the design of service systems, focusing on studying the involvement of suppliers and customers in operations using new technologies.

Before joining IESE, he worked as a researcher for the French Commissariat for Atomic Energy (CEA) and the Institute for Transportation Studies (ITS). He also has extensive experience as a senior operations and service management consultant. He has worked for large industrial and retail firms, airlines, airport authorities, and lately for banks and insurance companies. He also developed his entrepreneurship spirit by joining a Californian start-up during the 2000 Internet bubble. Prof. Lago is a partner in initiatives using new mobile technologies in global media, such as The New York Times and Forbes. He is involved in several international research collaborations with colleagues from top global business schools. He has extensive practical experience through workshops, training, and consulting assignments for clients in Scandinavia, Central and Eastern Europe, and China. He teaches PhD, EMBA, executive, and Master of Science programs in Europe and Asia. He regularly facilitates workshops with practitioners on the role of people in organizational development and change, leadership development, organizational culture, and creativity & innovation management.

He earned a PhD in Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, where he was distinguished as a Gordon F. Newell Fellow. He also holds a degree in civil engineering from the Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya and has completed a Program for Management Development at IESE Business School.

Part-time lecturer at RU and an Associate Professor of Marketing and Presidential Research Scholar at Babson College, USA

Dr. Bal is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Babson College. Her research focuses on Arts & Entertainment and Sports Marketing, with a particular emphasis on the intersectionality of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA). She has published extensively in leading journals, including the European Journal of Marketing, the Journal of Advertising Research, and the Journal of Product and Brand Management.

An award-winning advocate for DEIA in higher education, Dr. Bal holds a BA in Theatre from the University of California, San Diego, an MBA from the Rotterdam School of Management in the Netherlands, and a PhD in Marketing from The Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University in Canada. Her contributions to higher education have earned her numerous accolades, including recognition as one of the 50 Best Undergraduate Professors of 2023 by Poets & Quants, the Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award from Babson College, and the Pride Award from Babson College.

In addition to her scholarship, Dr. Bal frequently provides insights on marketing topics for prominent media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, NPR’s Marketplace, KCBS San Francisco, and others. 

Part-time lecturer at RU & Senior Lecturer, IESE Business School

Edi Soler is a full-time senior lecturer in the Accounting & Control Department at IESE Business School (University of Navarra). He has a Ph.D. in Business Administration (Accounting) from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, an Executive MBA from IESE Business School, and a BSc. in Industrial Engineering from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya.

His research and academic interests focus on product and customer profitability, pricing policies, cost systems, management control systems and earnings management. He has conducted consulting projects on management accounting and control systems and has interned as a financial analyst at a few companies in Spain. He has over ten years of experience managing educational institutions and over four years in the energy supply industry as CFO at Holaluz. He teaches classes in financial accounting, managerial accounting, management control, analysis of business problems and other courses at graduate and executive programs in Spain and abroad.

More info: Edi Soler at IESE

Part-time lecturer at RU, Professor at the MIT School & Faculty Director of MITdesignX

Svafa is a Professor of the Practice at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is a founding member and faculty Director of MITdesignX and the co-founder of The MET Fund, a Cambridge-based seed investment fund.

Svafa is a member of the Board of Directors of Marel, Össur and Icelandair. As a member of a team of entrepreneurs who created and scaled two global life science companies, her professional career has been focused on organizational design for high-growth companies. As a venture designer, she works in parallel in industry and academia with teams of people from around the world to build companies, brands, experiences, academic programs, processes, and organizational structures designed to improve business results and workplace well-being. Svafa holds a PhD from the London School of Economics, where she examined the impact of customer-oriented behaviours and service design on business outcomes.

Part-time Lecturer at RU & Professor of accounting and control at IESE Business School

Dr. Weber earned his Ph.D. in Management (Accounting and Information Systems) from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, USA, and his MBA from IESE. He also holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the Universidad Simón Bolivar.

Professor Eric Weber was the associate dean for 17 years and a member of the Executive Committee of IESE for 23 years. He is a member of the Harvard Business School - IESE Advisory Committee. He has formerly served as the associate dean for the MBA programme, the associate dean for Executive Education and Executive MBA Programmes, and the academic director for the Global Executive MBA programme.

More information about Erick Weber:

• https://www.iese.edu/faculty-research/faculty/eric-weber/

Part-time Lecturer at RU and television host

For more than 30 years, Gísli Marteinn Baldursson has studied public speaking. He has held numerous courses and seminars on public speaking and media relations for schools, institutions, and companies.

Gísli Marteinn is an award-winning television talk show host who has worked in TV for over two decades. After starting out as a news reporter in 1997, he soon moved on to form and host a new daily current affairs show, Kastljósið, that is still running to this day. Apart from that, Gísli Marteinn hosted "Saturday Night with Gísli Marteinn", a talk show with celebrity guests, "Sunday Morning with Gísli Marteinn", a Sunday morning news show, and now "The Week with Gísli Marteinn", is on its sixth season.

During an 8-year break from television, Gísli Marteinn served as a city councillor on Reykjavik City Council. As such, he was the chairman of the environment and transport committee; he was also a member of the steering committee that wrote a new General masterplan for Reykjavik and was a member of the international jury for a new plan for Vatnsmýri.

Gísli Marteinn was a Loeb Fellow at Harvard Graduate School of Design; he has an MSc in The City from Edinburgh University and a BA in political science from the University of Iceland. 

Part-time Lecturer at RU & HR Manager at Marel Iceland

Ketill is a member of the International Advisory Board for Kozminski University School of Law, Poland.

My former roles included being a managing director for Festa - Icelandic Center for Corporate Social Responsibility, VP of Human Capital at Iceland Telecom, and chairman of Almannaheill - Icelandic Association of Non-Profit Organizations.

Ketill Berg earned his MA in philosophy and business ethics at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada and his MBA from ESADE in Spain.

More info about Ketill Berg Magnússon:

• http://linkedin.com/in/ketillmagnusson

Associate Professor of Organizational Psychology at BI Norwegian School of Business í Oslo. Part-time Lecturer at RU

Lina's interdisciplinary and translational approach to research focuses on collaborating with researchers and practitioners across scientific disciplines to ensure the applicability of research in practice.

Lina is the recipient of the 2020 Distinguished Scholar Award from the Arab Fund for Social and Economic Development, and the Association recognized her scholarly activism work to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) as “innovations that inspire”.

Lina advocates for women’s and other minority groups' rights and has collaborated on several projects to advance workplace inclusion. As one of the lead researchers on the Support and Accelerate Workplace Inclusion (SAWI) project, she actively promotes gender-inclusive employer policies and women's economic participation across the Arab Middle East and North Africa region. Following a successful Marie Curie Fellowship application in 2024 as a supervisor, Lina will host a postdoctoral fellow to collaborate on a new project focusing on highly skilled migration in the Nordics, aiming for significant societal impact.

More info about Lina Daouk-Öyry

Part-time Lecturer at RU, Executive Coach & Consultant @SAGA Competence

Sigríður has more than 15 years of experience and knowledge in management, human resources, and operations. She is the CEO of SAGA Competence, focusing mainly on positive workplace culture and leadership development. Sigríður holds a B.Ed. Degree from the University of Iceland and an MSc. in Human Resources from Lund University. She is also a graduate of the ACC program in Executive Coaching from Reykjavik University and a certified Dale Carnegie trainer.

A Visiting Professor at RU & a Professor of Economics at IE Business Schools, Madrid

Prof. Patricia Gabaldon received her PhD from the University of Alcala in Madrid, Spain. Since then, she has served as a professor of Economics at IE Business Schools in Madrid, Spain, where she is also the Head of the Economics department and Vice-dean of Pedagogical Innovation.

Prof. Gabaldon's research interests centre on economic institutions, gender equality and diversity in corporate governance, and their contribution to business and society. Her publications have appeared in high-impact academic journals, and she is very much involved in numerous conferences in Europe and the United States.

More information about Patricia Gabaldon Quinones:

• @ ie.edu

Assistant Professor of Finance at Reykjavik University

Patrick received his PhD from the Vienna Graduate School of Business and is a CFA charter holder. His research focuses on empirical asset pricing, and he has published in top journals in financial economics.

Part-time Lecturer at RU & a Professor of Management at the University of Ljubljana

Miha Škerlavaj, PhD, is a professor of management and a vice-dean for research at the School of Economics and Business at the University of Ljubljana and an adjunct professor of leadership and organizational behaviour at BI Norwegian Business School.

More information about Miha Škerlavaj

• @ http://www.mihaskerlavaj.net
• @ School of Economics and Business Ljubljana University
• @ BI Norwegian Business School 

Part-time lecturer at RU and Professor of the Practice of Management in the Strategic Management Department at IESE Business School.

Mike Rosenberg, is a Professor of the Practice of Management in the Strategic Management Department at IESE Business School where he lectures on strategy, geo-politics, and sustainability in IESE's MBA and executive education programs. Professor Rosenberg has an undergraduate degree in Naval Architecture from the University of Michigan, an MBA from IESE Business School and received his Ph.D. from the Cranfield School of Management.

Professor Rosenberg is the author of Strategy & Sustainability, Strategy & Geo-politics and Learning to Fly (2022), a book that encourages people to think about the future and global trends when considering their professional career. Professor Rosenberg is also co-editor of Managing Media Businesses.

In addition to his academic work, Professor Rosenberg consults with leading international companies and is asked to speak on topics relating to scenario planning, sustainability, and managing global firms.

Part-time Lecturer at RU

Olafur holds a Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of Copenhagen. Olafur's teaching portfolio spans a range of statistics and data analytics courses, enriched by his vast academic and professional experience.

Olafur's research interests are multifaceted, delving into strategic modelling, pharmaceutical research, and population trends. The depth of his research is evident in its relevance to academia and industry, particularly in strategic decision-making processes and health sector advancements.

Part-time Lecturer at RU & Associate Professor at BI,  Norwegian Business School

The philosopher Øyvind Kvalnes is an Associate Professor at the Department of Leadership and Organizational Management, BI Norwegian School of Management. He is an experienced facilitator, lecturer and researcher.

In 1998, he defended his PhD thesis entitled “Living with Moral Luck”. For ten years, he was the CEO of Humanistisk Akademi in Oslo, a small unit of philosophical consultants. He has written three books on practical philosophy in the workplace. His main interests outside academia are family, football and music.

Research areas: Human flourishing and fallibility, ethics, communication, personal integrity, organizational identity, self-determination and autonomy, wisdom in leadership

Director of the Executive MBA programme at RU.

Erla Ósk Wissler Pétursdóttir is an experienced executive with over 15 years of leadership across operations, sustainability, HR, and strategic development. Prior to joining Reykjavík University in early 2025, Erla served as Managing Director at Marine Collagen ehf., overseeing procurement, production, product development, and crisis management. Prior senior roles include HR manager at Vísir hf. and managing director at Codland ehf. which focused on full-utilization and innovation. 

Serves on the board of Síldarvinnslan hf., a publicly traded company, and has held multiple board positions across the private and public sectors. These roles have provided deep insight into corporate governance, regulatory environments, strategic oversight, and stakeholder alignment.

Holds an Executive MBA from Reykjavík University and a BA in Economics and Computer Science from Macalester College, USA. Brings a practical, value-driven approach to leadership, with a focus on sustainability, collaboration, and business transformation

Part-time Lecturer at RU & Professor in the Department of Production, Technology, and Operations Management at IESE Business School

Professor Calvo is an electrical engineer by training. He holds an M.Sc. and a Ph.D. from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) and has been a visiting scholar several times at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 2005, he received the Salvà i Campillo Award for the Best Young Engineer by the Association of Electrical Engineers of Catalonia. In 2014, he appeared among the world's top 40 business school professors under the age of 40. In 2019, his research was honoured at M&SOM's Practice-Based Research Competition.

Professor Calvo does empirical research in operations management and is an expert on analyzing massive datasets to obtain causal inferences relevant to top management teams. His research works, which are published in top academic journals such as Management Science and Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, span online retail, procurement, and supply chain management.

Professor Calvo is the director of the Industrial Excellence Award in Spain—a competition that benchmarks European competitiveness in the industrial and service sectors—and of IESE's Initiative for the Excellence in Operations (INEO)—a learning community for the C-level executives of +15 manufacturing companies. Thanks to this, he has visited the plants and discussed the operations strategy with the top management teams of a number of industrial companies exceeding 2.5% of Spain's GDP. He consults on strategy and operations and speaks at corporate events. 

Assistant Professor at RU

Dr. Aldís Guðný Sigurðardóttir holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration from Reykjavik University and a BSc and an MSc from the same university. She completed over half of her studies in the master's program at BI University in Oslo. Additionally, Aldís has a University Teaching Qualification (UTQ) degree from the University of Twente in the Netherlands and is a certified mediator from MII in Ireland.

Her research focuses on negotiation behaviour, behavioural economics, deception, and conflict resolution. Before starting her academic career, she gained several years of managerial experience, including negotiating complex agreements as a director of companies in both the public and private sectors. She has extensive experience as a procurement consultant for both the public and private sectors. Moreover, as a founder and executive director, she has significant management experience and has been a head negotiator in challenging negotiations on behalf of companies in various industries. She has also provided consulting services for strategic decisions and management training on negotiations and communication challenges in various European companies. Aldís has worked for various unions in conflict resolution and has extensive experience settling labour agreement disputes.

Dr. Sigurðardóttir's primary teaching experience is in negotiations & sales, contract negotiation, international negotiation, mediation, HRM, change management, purchasing strategy and systems, global sourcing and organizations, conflict resolution and cross-cultural communication at BSc, MSc, and MBA levels in various European universities.