Professor Mirahan Zedan: Bridging Executive Strategy and Academic Innovation on the R&D Bridge
The mission of the Nordic R&D Bridge is to forge sustainable partnerships and foster knowledge exchange between European institutions and the Middle East and North Africa. Few academic leaders embody this bridging role as completely as Professor Mirahan Zedan.
Combining a distinguished career as a university professor with deep, hands-on experience as a corporate Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), Professor Zedan represents the powerful integration of theoretical rigor and practical executive action.
Her profile—a blend of academic leadership at Helwan
University, Ahram Canadian University (ACU), and Cairo University, alongside
her corporate strategy tenure—makes her insights indispensable for researchers,
industry partners, and executive education providers looking to thrive in the
digital age.
The Dual Mandate: Academia Meets the Boardroom
Professor Zed Zedan’s professional trajectory is defined by a commitment to eliminating the often-cited gap between academic knowledge and real-world business application.
While currently lending her academic expertise
at institutions like Helwan University and leading the Business Administration
Department at ACU, her true distinction lies in her history as a CSO.
As a Chief Strategy Officer, she was actively involved in steering complex organizations through volatile market dynamics, leading large-scale digital transformation initiatives, and designing robust growth strategies.
This practical, top-tier executive experience ensures that her teaching and research are not theoretical exercises; they are validated blueprints for success. When she mentors a student or advises an executive, her methods are grounded in a PhD-level understanding of complex business phenomena, yet tailored to be immediately applicable in the competitive global marketplace.
This unique dual mandate allows her to cultivate a generation of
leaders who are both deeply reflective and highly adaptive.
Core Pillars of Strategic Leadership
Professor Zedan's extensive academic repertoire forms the
bedrock of her influence. Her Ph.D. in Business Administration underpins a
deep, research-informed understanding across multiple critical disciplines. Her
teaching and training focus heavily on areas that are most relevant to the
strategic needs of the Nordic R&D Bridge platform:
- Strategic Management & International Business: She equips professionals with the frameworks necessary to navigate cross-border operations and complex geopolitical economic environments, skills essential for building international R&D collaborations.
- Technology Management: In an era defined by rapid digital shifts, her expertise in Technology Management and leading digital transformation ensures that research and business strategies remain future-proofed.
- Leadership
and Organizational Behavior: She focuses on the human element,
understanding that strategy implementation is fundamentally driven by
effective leadership and adaptive organizational structures.
This combination of expertise ensures that her guidance not
only covers what research to conduct but how to translate that
research into tangible corporate and economic value.
Executive Development: The IBCT-Certified Bridge
Beyond the university lecture hall, Professor Zedan
functions as a catalyst for organizational change through her role as a Certified
Trainer by the International Board of Certified Trainers (IBCT). Her executive
development programs are highly sought after because they address immediate,
high-stakes industry needs, including:
- Business Model Innovation: Helping companies pivot and find new sources of competitive advantage.
- Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC): Providing the frameworks necessary for sustainable, ethical, and resilient corporate operations—a cornerstone of international partnership.
- Strategic
Planning and Foresight: Teaching leaders how to anticipate future trends
rather than merely reacting to them.
These training specialties are the direct link between the
academic research ecosystem and corporate strategy, making her a vital asset in
the Nordic R&D Bridge’s goal of fostering sustainable industrial
partnerships. She cultivates professionals who are not just recipients of
knowledge but active architects of their organizations' competitive future.
The SKRC Dialogue: Translating R&D into Global Influence
The upcoming exclusive interview, "Research from Zero
to Publication," serves as a perfect demonstration of her commitment to
capacity-building. This session, hosted by the SKRC's The Swedish Dialogue
platform, directly addresses the practical barriers that prevent groundbreaking
academic work from achieving global recognition.
In the interview, she is set to tackle critical, modern challenges that plague both academics and corporate R&D divisions: the necessity of high-impact writing to ensure acceptance in top-tier journals, and the strategic guidance needed for the ethical integration of Generative AI into research.
By focusing on Knowledge, Strategy, and Leadership—the three pillars
of her professional philosophy—she provides the essential missing link:
translating research ideas into published papers that serve as proof points for
further international collaboration and corporate investment.
Professor Mirahan Zedan truly embodies the role of a modern academic leader—one who teaches strategy because she has lived it, and who bridges the often-distant worlds of scholarly rigor and executive decision-making.
Through her continued leadership and collaboration with
platforms like the Nordic R&D Bridge, she remains a pivotal figure in
ensuring that research talent in the MENA region is equipped to meet global
standards and drive future economic growth.