Afsaneh Nahavandi Professor and Chair, University of San Diego
Dr. Afsaneh is professor of Management at the Knauss School of Business at the University of San Diego (USD), and Professor Emerita at Arizona State University. She is the founder and principal investigator of the Cultural Mindset Project and the Individual Cultural Mindset Inventory, a cultural assessment and training program used widely to help leaders work more effectively across cultures.
She has a BA in Psychology and French from the University of Denver, an MA and PhD in Social Psychology from University of Utah. Prior to coming to USD in 2013 to be chair of the Leadership Studies Department, she taught at Arizona State University for 26 years in the Business School and in the School of Public Administration. She has held several administrative positions including director of the MBA program at ASU’s West campus and associate dean of University College and of the College of Public Programs at ASU.
She has authored several textbooks including The Cultural Mindset: Managing People Across Cultures (2022, Sage) and The Art and Science of Leadership (2024, Pearson) now in its 8th edition, , as well as numerous articles and chapters about leadership and culture.