RAC appoints two new academic Deans

Following an extensive search by Society, the Royal Agricultural College (RAC) has appointed new Deans to its School of Business and its School of Real Estate and Land Management (RELM). The College will welcome Professor Kanes Rajah, as the Dean of the School of Business and Professor Ali Parsa, as Dean of the School of RELM.

Professor Kanes Rajah will come from Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria, South Africa, where he is the Director of the Business School. Previously, he was the Director for the MBA in Agribusiness at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and then moved on to the University of Greenwich to become the Head of Department of Strategy and Operations and subsequently its Director for the Centre for Entrepreneurship. Professor Rajah gained his BSc and MSc in Chemistry from the University of Salford and his PhD from the University of Reading.

“I feel privileged to be offered this strategic role within the RAC’s leadership team,” commented Professor Rajah. “It will be an exciting challenge for me. I look forward to working with all the staff members to build, together, a thriving School.”

Professor Ali Parsa will join the School of RELM from the University of Salford, where he is currently Professor of Real Estate in the School of Built Environment. He was previously the Rotary International Professor of Urban Planning and Business Development at the University of Ulster and before that Director of Research at the School of Property Construction and Surveying in London South Bank University. Professor Parsa was educated at Newcastle University, where he completed his MPhil Housing Studies and PhD in International Planning and Construction, respectively.

Commenting on his appointment to the School of RELM, Professor Parsa said, “I very much look forward to join this wonderful institution in an important phase of its development to become an internationally recognised centre of teaching and research in sustainable real estate and land management.”

“The RAC is very pleased to have two such eminent colleagues joining us,” commented RAC Principal, Professor Chris Gaskell. “There are so many opportunities in agri-business and land and property management, and these appointments will enable us to continue to develop and contribute at the very highest level, both to the teaching of the future generations of leaders and in research and scholarship.”