Biography
W B Howieson, PhD MPhil MBA BSc FRSA, is a Business and Management academic. He entered academia mid-career via a Foundation for Management Education/ Economic and Social Research Council Senior Fellowship at Stirling Management School, the University of Stirling, Scotland. Between 2013 and 2018, he was the Head of the Management and Marketing Division at the University of Dundee School of Business. At present, he is a Professor and Head of the Management Division in the Business School at Edinburgh Napier University. He has taught and presented in North America, the Americas, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australasia. Prior to entering academia, he had a 23-year career with the Royal Air Force (United Kingdom Ministry of Defence Fellow (2002)) and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons. As a Regular Officer in the Royal Air Force, he served on 51, 55 (R) and 206 squadrons and undertook flying operations worldwide (Nimrod MR2 and Nimrod R aircraft) with extensive experience in the Middle East Theatre of Operations, Mediterranean, Europe and Atlantic Ocean area. His active service included the Gulf War (1991), the Kosovo War (1999) and United Nations Air Operations in Northern and Southern Iraq (1999 and 2000). He remains very interested in the education, training and professional development of doctors and dentists in the UK.
In addition to working for a UK medical Royal College, he was a former Non-executive Member of the Medical Directorate within NHS Scotland (Former Board Member of the Anaesthesia and Emergency Medicine Specialty Training Board and the Surgical Specialty Training Board (20102016)). His current research covers the broad spectrum of Leadership including its history and the current state of the field. In detail, he is very interested in developing contemporary models of leadership, particularly in the areas of Mission Leadership and Empowerment. Sectors of interest include the public and third sectors and elite professional football (he teaches on the Scottish Football Association’s UEFA Professional Diploma). He is a member of the Chartered Association of Business Schools Executive Education Committee, was a Council Member of the Foundation for Management Education and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.