Prof. Dr. Nakiye Avdan Boyacıgiller
is an internationally recognized scholar of cross-cultural management, global leadership, and international business education, whose pioneering work has shaped the way management scholars and practitioners understand the intersection of culture, organizations, and globalization. Over the course of a distinguished career spanning more than four decades, she has combined rigorous scholarship with institution-building leadership, leaving a lasting imprint on both academia and business education worldwide.
Early Life and Education
Born in Los Angeles, California, in 1953 to Turkish parents, Boyacıgiller grew up navigating multiple cultures—a theme that would define her professional life. After a childhood marked by profound intercultural experiences in the United States, France, and Turkey, she graduated from Üsküdar American Academy in İstanbul and went on to pursue her undergraduate studies in Business Administration at Boğaziçi University. She later earned her MBA at UCLA and completed her Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior and Industrial Relations at the University of California, Berkeley, one of the leading programs in the field.
Academic Career in the United States
Boyacıgiller began her academic career at San José State University in California’s Silicon Valley, where she rose to become a leading member of the Department of Organization and Management. At SJSU she and a group of colleagues—later known as the “Young Turks”—helped transform the department into one of the most dynamic on campus. She was also among the early female faculty in the College of Business, forging a supportive community of women scholars at a time when management academia was still overwhelmingly male.
Her scholarly contributions were groundbreaking. With Nancy J. Adler, she co-authored “The Parochial Dinosaur: The Organizational Sciences in a Global Context” (1991), a landmark paper challenging the dominance of U.S.-centric management theories and calling for more global perspectives. She also co-authored a widely cited review on the culture construct in international management (2003), and contributed to foundational work on global mindset in multinational corporations (2007). These studies have been recognized as seminal in advancing cross-cultural and international business research.
Leadership and Institution Building
In addition to her scholarship, Boyacıgiller has been a tireless institution builder and leader in professional associations. She has served as Program Chair and President of the Academy of International Business (AIB), becoming only the third woman in AIB’s history to hold the presidency, and she played a key role in expanding the field of international business to include greater attention to organizational behavior, culture, and human resource management. She is also a Fellow of the AIB and an active supporter of WAIB (Women in the Academy of International Business), where she mentored generations of women scholars.
Leadership and Institution Building
In addition to her scholarship, Boyacıgiller has been a tireless institution builder and leader in professional associations. She has served as Program Chair and President of the Academy of International Business (AIB), becoming only the third woman in AIB’s history to hold the presidency, and she played a key role in expanding the field of international business to include greater attention to organizational behavior, culture, and human resource management. She is also a Fellow of the AIB and an active supporter of WAIB (Women in the Academy of International Business), where she mentored generations of women scholars.
Leadership and Institution Building
In addition to her scholarship, Boyacıgiller has been a tireless institution builder and leader in professional associations. She has served as Program Chair and President of the Academy of International Business (AIB), becoming only the third woman in AIB’s history to hold the presidency, and she played a key role in expanding the field of international business to include greater attention to organizational behavior, culture, and human resource management. She is also a Fellow of the AIB and an active supporter of WAIB (Women in the Academy of International Business), where she mentored generations of women scholars.
Leadership and Institution Building
In addition to her scholarship, Boyacıgiller has been a tireless institution builder and leader in professional associations. She has served as Program Chair and President of the Academy of International Business (AIB), becoming only the third woman in AIB’s history to hold the presidency, and she played a key role in expanding the field of international business to include greater attention to organizational behavior, culture, and human resource management. She is also a Fellow of the AIB and an active supporter of WAIB (Women in the Academy of International Business), where she mentored generations of women scholars.
Leadership and Institution Building