The Workshop Leader

Dr. Liesl Riddle is an Associate Professor of International Business and International Affairs at The George Washington University. She holds a BA and MA in Middle Eastern Studies, a MBA in Marketing/International Business, and a PhD in Sociology from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Riddle has written extensively about diasporas and development, international entrepreneurship, and trade and investment promotion. She is a member of a United Nations’ advisory panel concerning diaspora investment and entrepreneurship policies. Dr. Riddle is the co-principle investigator of a multi-year research study, the Diaspora-Homeland Capital Investment Project, funded by the Center for International Business Education and Research. Dr. Riddle has conducted fieldwork in Egypt and Turkey and among diaspora communities in the USA and Europe (Afghan, Armenian, Cuban, Ghanaian, Iranian, Liberian, and Palestinian communities). She is on the editorial board of two journals, Education Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues and the Journal of Education for Business.

Dr. Riddle is the acting director of the Diaspora Program within GW’s Elliott School for International Affairs’ Institute for Global Studies (http://www.gwu.edu/~elliott/researchcenters/diaspora.cfm). She also serves on the Executive Committee of GW’s Institute of Middle East Studies (http://www.gwu.edu/~imes/). Dr. Riddle teaches courses at the undergraduate and graduate level, including Managing in Developing Countries, International Marketing, Survey Research Methods, and Introduction to International Business. She has received Best Reviewer Awards from the Academy of International Business and the Academy of Management. She has received numerous GW teaching awards, including the School of Business' Teaching Excellence Award.

Prior to her academic appointment, Dr. Riddle worked in the field of market research on both the client and supplier side of the industry. Most recently she held the position of the Director of Research for the international market research firm, FH&R in Houston, Texas. She has served as a consultant for several organizations, including the World Bank, the US Department of State, the Grameen Foundation, IBM, and other private-sector clients.