Dean and Director of Henley Business School Africa, has been appointed a distinguished professor at Woxsen University in India

HR Future

25th October 2022

It’s an honour that took him by surprise, but one which he is both “very excited by and very privileged”.

The distinguished professorship was bestowed on Foster-Pedley, a former aerobatic pilot and airline captain in recognition of the contribution he has made to developing and providing business education in Britain, South Africa, Namibia, France and New Zealand, said Woxsen university’s Head of International Relations and Strategic Development, Mr. Chahat Mishra.

“The distinguished professorship is one of the highest honours awarded in the academic domain at Woxsen, reserved for faculty who had demonstrated a sustained high level of scholarly achievement in their respective field of study,” he says.

Before coming to Henley Africa as Dean and Director in 2011, Foster-Pedley taught strategy on the MBA programme for 15 years at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business, while also designing and directing the Executive MBA of before heading up and developing executive education there.

Woxsen University is one of India’s fastest growing business schools and has a trajectory that mirrors Henley Africa’s in terms of growth and success. The university was established in 2014 in the State of Telangana, 60kms from the capital Hyderabad. It has since established more than 95 partnerships with leading universities and institutions in more than 40 countries across the world countries, allowing its students and faculty to pursue international study and teaching opportunities.

The fully residential university has six schools: business, engineering, liberal arts & humanities, arts & design, architecture & planning and law, presenting programmes from undergraduate to postgraduate, master’s and PhD level. Today it is the #1 top emerging BBA College in India, #2 all India top design school and #4 all India top private university.

It recently launched its joint corporate advisory board with Zhejiang University International Business School, China, alongside a China-India cultural Centre; as well as the Thinkers50 Series which brings award-winning academics and industry professionals together to identify, analyse and discuss trends and needs in the corporate sector.

Entrepreneurial, agile, progressive, the relationship is a perfect fit with Henley Africa, says Foster-Pedley.

“We both believe in active and full immersion learning and we are both committed to the concept of corporate activism and social responsibility. I accepted this honour gladly and gratefully because it is an opportunity to help bring India to Africa and Africa to India,” says Foster-Pedley who is also chair of the Association of African Business Schools as well as chair of the British Chamber of Business in Southern Africa.

“There is a natural and empathetic alliance between our two schools and this is a wonderful opportunity for two of the most progressive business schools in their respective regions to work together to help develop the fast-growing emerging economies in which they operate.”

Henley Africa, he says, is hungry to bring in new ideas around education from all over the world to benefit African education.

Foster-Pedley says he is particularly interested in finding synergies and developing new ways to develop knowledge and teach. “They have an incredible record in education innovation and design which I think we can learn from, while I think there is much that we can share with them.”

Mr. Mishra agrees that the distinguished professorship is an excellent start to the future academic, thought leadership and practical collaboration between Woxsen and Henley Africa.