Srinagar: A seasoned academic leader and media practitioner, Dr Fazal Malik has been appointed as Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Amity University, Dubai.
Son of the soil and a pass-out from Media Education Research Centre (MERC), University of Kashmir, Dr Fazal has over two decades of international exposure in educational management, journalism and interdisciplinary research.
He started his journey from the MERC Srinagar as a Lecturer. During this time when ‘Greater Kashmir’ was launched as the first English language daily newspaper from Kashmir, he joined as the Features Editor which opened the doors for the media graduates of Kashmir University to practice journalism there. “I count my days at Kashmir University and Greater Kashmir as the best part of my life,” Dr Fazal told Greater Kashmir over phone from Dubai.
He secured Commonwealth Fellowship in mid 90’s to study International Journalism at the prestigious City University in London. In the UK, Dr Fazal worked for several newspapers of repute including Asian Age, The News International, and freelanced for the Guardian. During this time, he also set up community radio stations for the disadvantaged communities in the inner city areas of the UK, which are still broadcasting on FM, providing interactive platforms for community engagement.
Dr Fazal later joined the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as a broadcast journalist, and worked there for six years, producing news and current affairs programmes for various BBC network stations in Birmingham, Leicester, Nottingham, and the World Service.
He made transition to academia after completing PhD in Media and Cultural Studies from the Institute of Cultural Analysis, Nottingham Trent University where he taught briefly before joining the Higher Colleges of Technology, the largest Federal University in the UAE to start media studies departments at eight different campuses. In this capacity, he also managed the Master’s Program in Cultural and Creative Industries in association with Goldsmiths College, University of London.
After serving for nine-long years as Associate Dean for Applied Media School at the Higher Colleges of Technology, Dr Fazal was headhunted to start Humanities and Arts school at the newly established Amity University in a sprawling state of the art campus in Dubai International Academic City. Providing a successful leadership for the school of Humanities, Arts and Applied Sciences, he successfully established undergraduate and postgraduate programs in Journalism, Film & TV, Animation, Fashion, Hospitality, Psychology, Economics, Forensic Sciences and Law.
To contextualize learning within the Arab world and to engage with the UAE strategic direction, Dr Fazal was elevated to the position of Vice President Academics along with the responsibility for Institutional effectiveness with a mandate to secure various national and international institutional and programme accreditations. His unique insights into academia, leadership skills and capacity to engage with the industry have helped him to secure the Pro-Vice-Chancellor position at Amity University Dubai which is emerging as a premier higher education institution for research and innovation in the region.
A strong believer in technology-enabled learning and innovative practice, Dr Fazal is passionate about lifelong learning. His illustrious career has seen him create bridges between theory and practice and between academia and industry.
He is also the editor of the ‘Global Media Journal- Arabian edition’ and the editor of the compendium, ‘Current Practices and Future Trends in Media Communication’. He is also the Editorial board member of Scopus Indexed Journal of Content, Community and Communication.
A prolific researcher, Dr Fazal has authored scores of publications, presentations and commentaries on the relationship between media, place and identity. His forthcoming book on Media from Margins- A subaltern view of Marginalization is published by Palgrave Macmillan. A known commentator on Higher Education, Creative Industries and innovative disruptions, Dr Fazal writes Op-ed-Column for Gulf News, Khaleej Times, and The National in the UAE.