Professor Joseph L. Wallis currently serves as Dean of the School of Business at the American University of Ras Al Khaimah.

Prior to assuming this position, he was a Professor of Economics and Public Administration at the American University of Sharjah (2003-2018) during which time he served as Head of the Department of Management (2005-2016).  He also played a lead role in processes through which the School of Business Administration in this institution gained initial accreditation in 2011 with the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and subsequent re-accreditation with this body in 2016.

Before his appointment at the American University of Sharjah, Prof. Wallis was a faculty member in the Departments of Economics at the University of Otago in New Zealand from 1987 to 2003 and Rhodes University in South Africa from 1984 to 1987.  During his academic career which commenced after the completion of his PhD in Economics at Rhodes University in 1984, he was able to launch a program of scholarly research and professional consulting that has become increasingly cross-disciplinary and now encompasses the areas of economics, public administration, public policy, leadership and ethics.  This is currently reflected in a publication record, cited over 2000 times by Google Scholar, that includes five favorably reviewed scholarly books by reputable UK publishers (Market Failure, Government Failure, Leadership and Public policy; The Political Economy of Local Government: Leadership, Reform and Market Failure; The Political Economy of the Voluntary Sector: A Reappraisal of the Comparative Advantage of Voluntary Organizations; Reform and Leadership in the Public Sector; and An International Handbook of Public Management Reform) as well as over ninety refereed articles including those in journals such as World Development, Governance, Public Administration; Public Policy and Administration; Internet  Research and Public Management Review.  Prof. Wallis is also an experienced university teacher having taught courses in public economics, public choice, macroeconomics, leadership, business ethics and public policy and delivered executive training courses mainly in the areas of leadership and public policy.