Randa Bessiso, founding director of Manchester Business School (MBS) Middle East Centre, has been recognised by Forbes Middle East for her work and has been ranked amongst the Forbes 2014 list of the ‘200 Most Powerful Arab Women’.

Bessiso was ranked 49 in the Forbes 2014 list of the ‘200 Most Powerful Arab Women ‘– in the Executive Management category, for her work in founding and building the MBS Middle East Centre into the largest and fastest growing in the MBS international network.

MBS launched the Middle East Centre in Dubai Knowledge Village in 2006, and it now supports more than 1,600 part-time MBA students across the region.
Randa Bessiso, a Lebanese national of Palestinian origin, has overseen the development of the MBS Middle East Centre and the launch of a range of products, services and initiatives including the Manchester Innovation Award for Emiratis and the introduction of Corporate Education programmes, following ground breaking research into the market for executive education in the GCC.

Bessiso has spent much of her career working on market entry strategies, company start-ups and channel development programmes, and building profitable regional businesses and brands. Prior to joining MBS in 2005, she was vice president of Projacs International - Training and Development, in Kuwait, and was international business manager for UK eUniversities worldwide, a British Government backed online education initiative.

Bessiso said: “I am very grateful to Forbes and proud to be recognised in this ranking and it is a privilege to be listed amongst these very accomplished and successful Arab women. I congratulate them all and I sincerely hope that their success will help inspire other Arab women, as the business world continues to become more receptive to the unique skills and talents of women. The success of MBS in the Middle East has been down to teamwork and collaboration and so to the contribution of many others; leading the launch of a top global business school in my home region has been a tremendous personal and professional privilege for me and a life changing experience for many people, including our students."    
 
Professor Fiona Devine, OBE, Dean of Manchester Business School, said: “On behalf of Manchester Business School and the University of Manchester, we extend our warmest congratulations to Randa for this unique, well-earned and ground breaking recognition. Randa has made an outstanding contribution to MBS in the Middle East through her professional leadership and personal qualities. We are very proud of her both as a successful MBS executive leader and also as a woman demonstrating what can be achieved in the business world.” – TradeArabia News Service