Erik Rolland

Dr. Erik Rolland is the second President of University of The Bahamas (UB), a position he assumed on 1stAugust 2022. As an effective academic innovator and change agent, Dr. Rolland is widely known for his commitment to expanding student opportunity and social mobility, academic innovation, and promoting universities’ civic and business engagement to better serve society.

Previously, Dr. Rolland spent 25 years in faculty and leadership positions at the University of California, and six years with California State Polytechnic University (Cal Poly Pomona) – two of the most impactful public university systems in the world. He has also served as Dean in several academic disciplines including business, engineering and other professional schools and was also the senior international officer at Cal Poly Pomona.

As an institution builder, Dr. Rolland led the development of the Heckman Center for International Entrepreneurship at the University of California, Riverside, and helped build the Ernest & Julio Gallo School of Management at the University of California at Merced. At the university of California, Merced, Dr. Rolland also led the School of Engineering as well as the strategic visioning for the university. At Cal Poly Pomona, he steered strategic transformation – most notably the re-visioning of the College of Business Administration and the formation of the new College of Professional and Global Education. His experience also includes serving as a professor in the Accounting & MIS department of the Fisher College of Business at the Ohio State University, where he also earned his Ph.D.

Dr. Rolland has served as an IBM Faculty Fellow, a fellow with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, a University of California Regents’ Faculty Fellowand a Research Fellow with theNorwegian Research Council for Science and Humanities. He has also held visiting professorial positions at universities in the United States, China, Australia, Canada, and South Korea.

His research is in the areas of information systems, economics, analytics/artificial intelligence, leadership, and strategy, and he has published over 100 articles in leading academic journals. Among other things, his research has positively impacted satellite service utilisation, design of mobile phone networks, as well as reverse logistic systems.

Prior to working in academia, Dr. Rolland worked in business consulting and served as an officer in the Norwegian Army. During the past three decades, he has also served as a consultant and board member to major organisations in Europe, North America, China, South Korea, and Japan.