During the difficult times of COVID-19 crisis, which we have successfully coped with in Slovenia and at IEDC-Bled School of Management, there are some nice developments, such as the appointment of Prof. Drikus Kriek as dean of IEDC, Postgraduate Studies.
Based on the nomination by the Founder, IEDC-Bled School of Management, represented by Prof. Danica Purg, the current dean and president of IEDC-Bled School of Management, the Senate of IEDC-Bled School of Management, Postgraduate Studies has unanimously elected Assoc. Prof. Drikus Kriek as the new dean of IEDC-Bled School of Management, Postgraduate studies for a full term of four years, starting as of June 1, 2020.
Assoc. Prof. Kriek succeeds Prof. Danica Purg, who has been the dean of IEDC-Bled School of Management, Postgraduate Studies, since it was founded in 2002. Prof. Danica Purg remains the president of the IEDC-Bled School of Management.
Prof. Drikus Kriek is a professor of leadership, and has served as the vice dean for pedagogy, as well as director of the Executive PhD Program at IEDC. His work was instrumental in developing the new DBA program as well as gaining the AMBA accreditation for it.
He is former director of the Leadership Development Centre and associate professor of human resource management at the Wits Business School (WBS) at the University of Witwatersrand. Previously. He had been an associate professor in organisational behaviour and leadership at the Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL) at the University of South Africa and is the former head of the Strategy and Leadership Area of the school.
He studied clinical psychology and received his MA (Clin Psych) and MBA degrees both cum laude from the Rand Afrikaans University and the University of Stellenbosch respectively. Prof. Kriek received his doctorate from the University of Pretoria and is a graduate from Yale University in the United States. He spent his Sabbatical leave at the Integral Leadership Centre (Wilber-based) at the Graduate School of Management of The University of Western Australia with Prof. Ron Cacciople, a renowned leadership development expert and practitioner.
His research, publications, and teaching focus mainly on teambuilding, leadership, and change management. He has published in popular and accredited academic journals and has presented his research to local and international forums. He was named Researcher of the Year for 2006/7 at the SBL. His article on African Change Leaders (with Prof. Stella Nkomo) has been awarded the Best Paper of 2011 distinction by the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology - one of the top-five journals in the field.
Prof. Kriek remarked, “I am honoured to be elected as the dean of IEDC-Bled School of Management, Postgraduate studies – an institution recognized for its innovation, strong academic base, unique teaching methods, and work on sustainability. I look forward to working closely with the faculty, staff, students and alumni, to keep IEDC recognized as one of the most highly renowned and impactful business schools in the region. We will continue to educate students to have the entrepreneurial mindset, embrace innovation, and value social responsibility”.
Prof. Purg, who continues to be the president of IEDC-Bled School of Management and the president of the management board of the IEDC – Bled School of Management, Postgraduate Studies, remarked: “It was my honour to serve as the dean of IEDC, since its establishment and I shall provide my full support and guidance to Prof. Kriek who has been an important part of the school as professor of leadership for some years already, and has shown his leadership capabilities and the right competences for his new role as the dean.”
We wish Prof. Kriek a lot of success on his new path.