Current Position and Past Experience
Melodena is an Associate Professor of the Faculty of Business and Management at the University of Wollongong Dubai, current MBA Program Director and previous Deputy Dean. She started with UOWD in 2005. She has over 16 years corporate and academic working experience. She worked in the corporate sector in Citibank NA, Bajaj Electricals and Eureka Forbes Ltd, India’s largest direct sales company.

Education, Honors and Achievements
Balakrishnan earned her HSCE in Science from St. Xavier’s College in 1990. In 1992, she earned her MBA in Marketing from the Institute of Management and Entrepreneur Development at Bharti Vidyapeet. She earned her PhD in Management Studies from the same institution in 2004.

Balakrishnan won a gold medal for her PhD thesis. She is a National Talent Search Scholar, a scholarship funded by the government of India and offered to 1% of all national applicants. She is a winner of the UOWD Teaching Excellence Award and was highly commended for ITC Staff Awards – Australia (2012) for the category Exceptional Leadership by a Female Staff Member.

Personal Details and Community Involvement
Balakrishnan is an ad hoc reviewer for the European Journal of Marketing, on the Editorial Review Board for the International Journal of Emerging Markets, a Regional Editor for Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies Collection for Middle East, Marketing and Tourism, the Series Editor for the book series “Actions and Insights: Middle East North Africa”. She is also the Chair of the Middle East North Africa Chapter of the Academy of International Business, a 50 year old reputed organization.

Connect
You can find Balakrishnan on Twitter @melodena.