Two new heads are better than one

There are two new Heads of School in the Faculty of Business and Law (FBL). Professor Hakeem Yusuf (pictured) will join the OU as Head of the Law School at the start of April, while Professor Siv Vangen became Head of the Business School on 1 February.

Hakeem, an internationally renowned legal scholar who has advised the governments of the United States, Gibraltar and Nigeria, will succeed Professor Paul Catley as the Law School’s Head when he retires in April. He has worked in each of the three legal systems of the UK – in Northern Ireland at Queen’s University Belfast; in Scotland at Strathclyde; and, most recently, in England and Wales at Birmingham and Derby universities.

Hakeem has been a Reader at two of those universities and is currently Professor of Law and Global Studies at a third, gaining experience of working in research-intensive and widening participation universities.

I’m delighted to be joining the Law School and FBL, and I look forward to continuing the mission of the School and The Open University.

Professor Hakeem Yusuf
Future Head of the Law School

Siv is Professor of Collaborative Leadership and first joined the Business School in 2002, teaching extensively across the undergraduate, postgraduate and executive programmes, as well as being an active researcher on inter-organisational collaboration and supervising many PhD students. She has held various leadership roles and has been Associate Dean for Research, Enterprise and Scholarship for the last five years. A renowned international scholar of collaborative leadership who has contributed significantly to the conceptualisation of leadership in voluntary sector organisations, she succeeds Professor Devendra Kodwani in the role who remains as FBL’s Executive Dean.

I’m very excited to take on this new role, especially at a time when there is so much potential for us to make a real difference to our students and society at large.

Professor Siv Vangen
New Head of OUBS

I’m confident that we have two great leaders in Hakeem and Siv with their experience and skills. We have a growing number of learners joining our Schools. I look forward to working with both Siv and Hakeem as we continue to support all our learners, and to further enhance the impact and reach of management and legal education and research.

Professor Devendra Kodwani
Executive Dean of the Business and Law Schools