Information Is Everywhere. But Wisdom? A Dean’s Perspective On Leadership, Learning & Global Impact

In a room full of deans, government and UN officials, and global higher education leaders grappling with the most urgent sustainability challenges of our time, one figure quietly commanded attention with her candor. “Arab Gulf economies are built on oil and gas and have normalized excess and consumerism” said Rana Sobh. “Our cultural traditions call for generosity, compassion, and stewardship but even these values are being taken advantage of. Business education has a responsibility to hold those human values at the center of how we are shaping future leaders.”

Sobh is Dean of the College of Business and Economics at Qatar University, the national university of the State of Qatar and the state’s only AACSB-accredited business school. Often operating outside the spotlight of U.S. and European platforms, she is among the most compelling voices today on what business education must become if it is to remain relevant, responsible, and worthy of trust. Her leadership philosophy is distilled into a deceptively simple refrain she lives by: don’t compete, collaborate.

A GLOBAL JOURNEY 

Dean Sobh’s story is one of cultural bridge-building long before the phrase became fashionable. Palestinian by heritage, educated in Tunisia and New Zealand, and professionally rooted in Qatar, she embodies the very global fluency that business schools seek to cultivate. She joined Qatar University in 2007 as a marketing professor specializing in consumer behavior, driven by a love of teaching and research and a curiosity about how people make decisions. 

What began as an academic appointment evolved steadily into institutional leadership. She was appointed Head of Department, a role she describes as formative; her first immersion into the core mechanics of academic administration. From there, she took on the demanding task of restructuring the Core Curriculum Program at the university level, adding another layer of strategic and operational experience. Four years ago, she was appointed Dean of the College of Business and Economics, assuming stewardship of one of the region’s most important business schools at a moment of profound global change. 

Her ascent was not accidental, nor was it narrowly ambitious. At each stage, Sobh demonstrated an ability to see the system as a whole and connected pedagogy, faculty development, student outcomes, and societal impact into a coherent vision.

As dean, recognizing that the landscape of business and technology is constantly shifting, she responded proactively. Just three years into her role as dean, she launched a Business Technology Hub, which serves as a dynamic, evolving ecosystem designed to meet the rapidly changing needs of both students and faculty. The hub is a solution that keeps the entire college agile, continuously learning, and fully equipped to integrate new technologies and approaches as they emerge. This solution keeps the entire college at pace with technology and lets everyone on campus focus on what matters more.

REIMAGINING THE PURPOSE OF BUSINESS EDUCATION 

Business schools, she argues, are no longer the gatekeepers of information. Knowledge is ubiquitous. Content is free. Credentials are being unbundled. This reality, she admits, “challenges our very existence.” 

So, what can business schools offer? 

Her answer is unambiguous: wisdom. 

Dean Sobh’s strategic vision for the College is explicitly forward-looking, dynamic, and impact-driven. She envisions the College of Business and Economics as a regional role model for sustainability leadership, producing graduates who are digitally fluent, ethically grounded, and highly adaptive in an ever-changing world. Ultimately, she measures the success of the college  graduates not by titles, positions, or accumulated wealth, but by the lives they improve and the positive impact they create in their organizations and communities.

Under her leadership, teaching approaches have been fundamentally revamped. Passive learning has given way to interactive, applied, and entrepreneurial modes of engagement. Students are expected to think like problem solvers, innovators, and leaders who graduate capable of turning uncertainty into opportunity. 

Her graduates are known, she notes, for possessing both soft skills and technical competence. This dual capability is no accident. It reflects a deliberate effort to educate the whole person, not just the résumé. 

“Tech and AI is the new literacy,” she says. “But it’s deeper than many people think. It’s more than just integrating a little AI into teaching. It’s a real paradigm shift.” 

That paradigm shift demands agility in curricula and in mindset. And she demands an honest reckoning with impact and supporting research.

Business education, Dean Sobh insists, must be a force for good. Schools must evaluate their societal footprint and confront the challenges facing both people and planet; particularly in economies shaped by natural resource wealth, where abundance can obscure long-term responsibility. Richness, in her framework, is not measured by rankings or revenues, but by the depth and durability of impact we have on each other and on the world.

DON’T COMPETE, COLLABORATE 

Perhaps Dean Sobh’s most enduring contribution to the global business education landscape is her refusal to accept competition as the default mode of operation. In a sector obsessed with differentiation, exclusivity, and league tables, she offers a countercultural proposition: collaboration is the multiplier. 

This belief led her to found the MENA Business Schools Alliance for Sustainability (MEBAS), a regional network designed to share cases, teaching methods, events, grant opportunities, and best practices. The goal is visibility with implementation, ensuring that ideas translate into action. 

MEBAS reflects her conviction that complex challenges cannot be solved in silos. Climate change, digital disruption, social inequality, and ethical leadership require collective intelligence. “Don’t compete, collaborate” is not a slogan; it is her operating principle. 

Through MEBAS, Dean Sobh has advanced the work of Arab-speaking institutions while deliberately positioning the region as a contributor to, rather than a consumer of, global knowledge. It is cultural bridge-building at scale that links local context with global relevance. 

HOLDING THE LINE FOR HUMANITY 

Across her work, Dean Sobh is clear about what is at stake. As artificial intelligence and automation accelerate, there is a growing temptation inside organizations and universities to frame technology as a substitute for human judgment rather than a complement to it. A framing she rejects entirely. 

What she is building at Qatar University reflects a broader conviction shared by forward-looking educators and administrators at the highest levels, working in partnership with students: business education must hold back the tide of dehumanization. The task at hand is to integrate technology in ways that elevate human capability, deepen critical thinking, and expand moral responsibility. 

In this model, upskilling is about strengthening discernment, adaptability, and ethical reasoning; all qualities that no algorithm can replicate. Technology becomes an amplifier of human intent, not a proxy for it. Business schools, she argues, have a unique obligation to insist on this distinction, precisely because they educate future decision-makers. 

It is our humanity, our wisdom, and our capacity to care that will ultimately determine whether innovation advances society or fractures it. For Dean Sobh, this is not philosophical abstraction; it is a leadership mandate. 

Q&A WITH DEAN RANA SOBH 

What are the challenges you experience in the region? 

Sobh: One of the main challenges in our region is navigating transition on multiple levels at the same time. We are reforming education while economies are transforming, technologies are accelerating, and societal expectations are shifting. That creates tension—between tradition and innovation, speed and depth, global models and local realities.

Another challenge is moving beyond comfort zones. Many institutions are still structured for a world that no longer exists. Change requires courage—rethinking curricula, breaking silos, and redefining what success looks like. This is not always easy, but it is necessary.

At the same time, I see this challenge as a strength. The region is young, ambitious, and open to reimagining its future. If we get education right, we can leap forward rather than simply catch up.

Why was creating MEBAS so important to you? The world? 

Sobh: MEBAS was born out of a simple conviction: the challenges we face in this region are too complex to be solved in isolation. Sustainability, climate change, social inclusion, and responsible growth require collective effort.

I felt strongly that business schools in the MENA region needed a platform to collaborate—not compete—around what truly matters. MEBAS allows us to share knowledge, co-create solutions, and speak with a stronger, collective voice.

At a global level, MEBAS challenges the idea that innovation and thought leadership only flow in one direction. Our region has perspectives, experiences, and solutions that the world needs to hear. Collaboration is how we amplify that voice.

How do you define success for business school graduates ten or twenty years from now? 

Sobh: For me, success has never been about titles, positions, or wealth. Ten or twenty years from now, I hope our graduates measure success by the lives they have improved and the positive impact they have created—in their organizations, their communities, and the world around them.

I want them to be competent, yes—but also ethical, grounded, and resilient. People who adapt to change without losing their values. Leaders who understand that real success is contribution, not accumulation. If they look back and say, “My education helped me become a better human being,” then we have done our job.

What role can the MENA region play in shaping global business education? 

Sobh: The MENA region has a unique opportunity to redefine the narrative. We are operating at the intersection of rapid development, cultural depth, and global interconnectedness. This allows us to offer models of business education that are contextual, human-centered, and purpose-driven.

Rather than importing ready-made frameworks, we can contribute new ones—grounded in ethics, sustainability, and societal responsibility. We can show that business education does not have to choose between excellence and purpose. The future of global business education will not be shaped by one region alone. The MENA region has both the responsibility and the potential to be an active co-creator.

What gives you optimism about the future of business education? 

Sobh: Students give me optimism. They are more aware, more values-driven, and more willing to question old assumptions than any generation before them. They care deeply about meaning, impact, and relevance.

I am also optimistic because business schools are beginning to ask the right questions: Why do we exist? Who do we serve? What kind of world are we preparing students for? When education reconnects with purpose, it becomes powerful again. I truly believe business education can—and must—be a force for good. And that belief is what keeps me hopeful and committed every single day.

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Heather W. Soderquist is a contributing writer to Poets&Quants and its former Chief Operating Officer. She consults with global business schools at BlueSky Education and serves as a Senior MBA Admissions Coach at MBA Protocol.

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