Dr. W. James Jacob served for 10 years at the University of Pittsburgh as the Director of the Institute for International Studies in Education (from 2007-2017). His research interests include higher education management; indigenous education issues of culture, language, and identity as they relate to postsecondary education; HIV/AIDS multisectoral prevention, capacity building, and principles of good governance; quality assurance; organizational development; higher education strategic planning; and organizational effectiveness. His teaching interests and experience are in the areas of higher education management, strategic planning, human resource management, financial management, policy analysis, program evaluation, international development, research ethics, and organizational leadership and strategy.
He is the co-editor of two book series related to the development of comparative, international, and development education scholarship: International and Development Education (Palgrave Macmillan) and Pittsburgh Studies in Comparative and International Education (Sense Publishers). Recent books include Trends in Chinese Education (with Hongjie Chen, Routledge, 2017); Strategic Transformation of Higher Education: Challenges and Solutions in a Global Economy (with Stewart E. Sutin, Rowman & Littlefield, 2016); Indigenous Education: Language, Culture, and Identity (with Sheng Yao Cheng and Maureen Porter, Springer, 2015); Community Engagement in Higher Education: Policy Reforms and Practice (with Stewart E. Sutin, John C. Weidman, and John L. Yeager, Sense Publishers, 2015); Economics and Finance in Higher Education (with John C. Weidman, and colleagues, 2014); and Policy Debates in Comparative, International, and Development Education (with John Hawkins, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011). He has written extensively on comparative, international, and development education topics with an emphasis on higher education management.
Dr. Jacob has worked with a number of private, public, bi-lateral, and multi-lateral organizations in his research endeavors, including Asian Development Bank, East-West Center, European Union, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF, The World Bank, USAID, ProLiteracy Worldwide, South Pacific Forum, U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of State, and many government ministries of education and health. He is currently a Fulbright Senior Specialist (2015-2020), where he offers capacity building expertise to governments on higher education leadership. Maintaining close networking relationships with higher education institutions in several countries, Dr. Jacob has served as a visiting professor at Peking University, China (2013-present); National Chung Cheng University, Taiwan (2015); and the East-West Center, USA (2015, 2018-Present).
Dr. Jacob holds master’s degrees in Organizational Behavior (Marriott School of Management) and International Development (Kennedy Center for International Studies) from Brigham Young University and a PhD in Education from the University of California, Los Angeles.