Academic Development Coordinator, Burcu Tezcan-Unal, shares testimonials from four Principal Fellows at Heriot-Watt University Dubai, reflecting on the value of Principal Fellowship in their leadership.
A Global Community Shaping Education Futures
Heriot-Watt University is a distinctive, global university with campuses in the UK, Dubai, and Malaysia. As the first British university to establish a campus in Dubai in 2005, Heriot-Watt University Dubai (HWUD) has become a pioneer in the UAE’s higher education market. This transnational identity influences how we teach, collaborate, and innovate, creating learning experiences that cross borders and bring diverse perspectives into every classroom. Our Dubai campus plays a central role in this mission, serving as a regional hub for educational leadership, talent development, and sector‑wide enhancement across the UAE and the wider MENA region.
Fellowship in action: Leading globally-connected education transformation
Leading educational innovation and driving continuous enhancement across the Heriot-Watt student learning experience requires strategic action across our global community. Our educational leaders provide vision and direction and transform practice across globally-integrated teaching teams, collaborating with partners and communities across all our locations.
To recognise and celebrate our exceptional educational leaders, we have championed engagement with Advance HE Fellowship across all our campus locations. This supports staff across career-stages to develop evidence-informed reflective practice, enhance supportive peer networks and have this celebrated through the award of Fellowship.
Our approach to supporting Principal Fellowship recognises the distinctive needs of colleagues who are leading strategic change: dedicated mentoring and a tailored support package is offered by professorial staff from our Learning & Teaching Academy. Colleagues identify the strategic change initiatives they have led, the policies and frameworks they have established across Heriot-Watt’s global campuses and beyond. They are then supported to map the impact of their leadership in relation to student learning experience, and institutional and sector educational transformation before embarking on the preparation of their case studies and reflective narratives.
The journey to PFHEA is professionally transformative, opening space for leaders to reflect deeply not just on scale and scope of their impact but on the approach to leadership that has enabled them to truly make a difference across the university and across the global HE sector. As Professor Martha Caddell, Director of Heriot-Watt’s Learning & Teaching Academy and lead mentor on the PFHEA Pathway, notes, “Achieving Principal Fellowship celebrates both the personal leadership achievements of an individual and the positive transformation of institutions to enhance the student learning experience. We are delighted to see colleagues in Dubai embracing the PFHEA process – and achieving such exceptional success.”
Celebrating Leadership and Impact: Reflections on the PFHEA Journey
At Heriot-Watt University Dubai, we are proud to celebrate our growing Fellowship community. Three outstanding colleagues have achieved Principal Fellowship of Advance HE (PFHEA): Professor Louise Valentine, Professor Rabee Rustum, and Dr. Matt Sukuraman. They join our Provost, Dame Professor Heather McGregor, in attaining this illustrious recognition of strategic leadership and educational impact.
Here they offer reflections on their PFHEA journey and the impact this had on their own leadership practice.
Dame Professor Heather McGregor: Demonstrating that impact knows no age or stage
“Becoming a Principal Fellow of the HEA in 2021 was a profound professional milestone. As one of the first at Heriot‑Watt to be awarded this accolade, it validated my leadership in learning and teaching and the work to design Edinburgh Business School’s new MBA curriculum. Entering higher education as a practitioner at 54, PFHEA demonstrated that impact and credibility are achievable at any stage.
“Since then, I have used my PFHEA to mentor colleagues in Dubai, champion professional recognition, and contribute confidently to international conversations on quality, curriculum design, and academic leadership, encouraging others to pursue HEA fellowship and build inclusive academic communities.“
Professor Louise Valentine: Leading from the middle with purpose, curiosity, and care
“For me, the Principal Fellowship is a meaningful marker of my ongoing contribution to education and the responsibility that comes with it. I tend to lead from the middle: mission-led, values-driven, and highly collaborative, connecting people, ideas, and systems so progress is shared. I see it as an affirmation of long-term stewardship, capacity-building, with a mindful commitment to quality and impact.
“I hope to inspire and coach colleagues in Dubai – and across design in higher education – to invest in continued professional development, to be wildly curious and thoughtfully reflective as they cultivate new leadership practices the world today needs: generous and mission-led, globally connected and community-focused, systems-minded and design-led, financially literate, and risk-aware.“
Professor Rabee Rustum: strengthening communities of practice across borders
“Achieving PFHEA is a deeply meaningful milestone that recognises my academic practice across more than 25 years in Syria, the UK, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Based at the Heriot-Watt University Dubai campus, my work as Associate Executive Dean and Director of Academic Quality for the School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society reflects a commitment to inclusive, high-quality education.
“I hope to use this recognition to further empower colleagues in Dubai and the wider MENA sector by promoting collaboration, sharing evidence-informed practice, and championing innovation that strengthens our collective impact on student learning and shapes their future together.”
Dr Matt Sukuraman: Translating strategy into real improvements for students
PFHEA, to me, is a reflective and evidence‑based recognition of sustained strategic leadership that enhances the student experience and strengthens sector-wide practice. It offers a valuable framework to examine how my work across global and transnational contexts has shaped inclusive, student‑centred environments through campus design, professional services innovation, wellbeing initiatives, and academic quality. The process enabled me to articulate clear links between strategy and impact, showing how integrated leadership, regulatory expertise, and a personal commitment to student success contribute to thriving, diverse academic communities.
For me, PFHEA affirms both long-term influence and the responsibility to continue driving positive change across the wider higher education landscape. I hope to use my PFHEA to lead by example, mentor colleagues, and share evidence-based practice across Dubai and the wider sector. It provides a platform to influence positive change, encourage collaboration and innovation, and support a sustained commitment to student-centred, globally engaged higher education
A Shared Commitment to Sustainable, Human‑Centred Change
Heather, Louise, Rabee and Matt each bring their own strengths and leadership styles, their collective impact is clear. They
- champion communities of practice,
- strengthen quality and curriculum design,
- mentor colleagues and build capacity,
- enhance student experience through strategic, thoughtful action,
- contribute to professional recognition cultures,
- shape sustainable improvement across the sector,
Their stories embody the spirit of Heriot-Watt as a global university: collaborative, connected, and committed to making a meaningful difference in higher education within Dubai, in the region and far beyond.
To find out more about Heriot-Watt’s approach to supporting, championing and celebrating Advance HE Fellowship, please contact Dr Burcu Tezcan-Unal, Learning & Teaching Academy, Heriot-Watt University Dubai.
Dr Burcu Tezcan Unal is the Academic Development Coordinator at Heriot-Watt University Dubai working closely with the university’s Learning and Teaching Academy. She is committed to supporting colleagues across higher education to develop their teaching, assessment, and educational leadership, contributing to stronger learning experiences for future generations.
