Professor Abeln received a Ph.D. in Management (Labor Economics) and M.Phil. in International Relations from Cambridge University, where he was a Rotary Foundation Scholar. He received his undergraduate degree from The University of Pennsylvania where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude.Professor Abeln has two decades of extensive academic leadership experience including at top 100 QS world-ranked universities including MIT, Cambridge, University of Texas Austin, Georgetown and Adelaide University. He began his academic career at the MIT Sloan School of Management as the Director of the MBA, at age 26. He was the youngest Director of any internationally ranked MBA program in the world at the time of his appointment at the MIT Sloan School of Management.Prior to joining AIT, he was the Dean of School of Business from 2014 at the University of Adelaide, Australia, one of the Australia' Group of 8 universities.From 2004-2007, Dr. Abeln served as Associate Dean at The University of Texas at Austin School of Business. He was responsible for five of the school’s MBA programs with a degree enrolment of 800 and over 50 Executive Education open enrollment and custom courses. Abeln taught International Management course for the MBA as a member of the Faculty. He also led the school’s initiative to construct an educational and residential facility for executive education.
From 2007 through 2011, Professor Abeln served as a member of the Faculty of Management at the University of Cambridge, and as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Cambridge Executive Education. At the University of Cambridge, Dr. Abeln also served as the Deputy Dean (Deputy Director) of the Cambridge Judge Business School and successfully initiated and developed the university’s new Executive MBA and a new portfolio of executive education programs.
Professor Abeln has extensive experience in the media as an economic and financial commentator and has written on the trends in graduate management education. He has been quoted in The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The London Times, The Independent and other international publications. He has appeared on
ABC, CBS and NBC television and radio affiliates. He has moderated and participated in forums with heads of state, government ministers, CEOs and executives of leading companies, and academic leaders.
Prof. Lawrence Stephen Abeln has joined the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) as the new Dean of School of Management with effect from 1 August 2016. His appointment as Dean was endorsed by the AIT Board of Trustees at its meeting held on 14 July 2016. The announcement of Prof. Abeln's appointment was made by AIT President Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai in an email to the AIT community.