PROFESSOR DR SAMSINAR MD. SIDIN graduated with Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) from Western Michigan University, Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Business Administration from University of Arkansas, USA. She graduated with honours (Cum Laude) and was the recipient of the Wall Street Journal Award for Best Student in Economics. She also graduated in the top five and was nominated to represent University of Arkansas for the George Hay Brown Award for excellence in Marketing at graduate level in her MBA program.

Professor Samsinar has been with Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) since 1984. During this period, she has been actively involved in teaching, research and administration. She has extensive teaching experience in Marketing and Management at undergraduate and graduate levels. Some of the courses that she has taught include Consumer Behaviour, Marketing Management, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Theory, Organization and Business Management, Organizational Behaviour, Cross-Culture Management and Strategic Management.

Ever since she first started her career, Professor Samsinar has been involved in the graduate studies programs at UPM. She held the position of Program Director of the MM program for five (5) years (1996 – 2001). Professor Samsinar also contributed in the development of the Master of Science (Plantation Management) program, where she was a member of the Advisory Board for four (4) years (1998 – 2002).

As Head of Department, Department of Management and Marketing (1998 – March 2004), Professor Samsinar has been involved in the curriculum development for the BBA programme for the university. Her contributions extend beyond UPM, especially her work with other Deans of Business Schools in Malaysia, which look at future developments as well as quality specifications of the BBA program in Malaysia. She was also instrumental in developing the current curriculum of the BBA program at UPM, which underwent major revisions in 1999.

Professor Samsinar was appointed as Deputy Dean (Academics and Student Affairs) Faculty of Economics and Management in 2004. She was also the coordinator of the faculty’s Quality Assurance Committee. She leads the team to prepare massive documentations of different quality aspects for the academic programs at the faculty to be used in the rating and ranking processes of public universities in Malaysia. She is currently Head of the Working Committee for AACSB accreditation for the faculty. In her quest to produce better and more marketable graduates, Professor Samsinar believed that teaching methods to be student centred, and has participated actively in various forums to develop the most effective student centred learning for business.

Professor Samsinar was appointed as Director of Corporate Planning Division for UPM in January 2007. Her responsibilities include monitoring the strategic planning and performance for the university as well as quality assurance and corporate development. In this position, she is entrusted with developing image and branding of the university as well as responsible for improving world ranking of UPM. In January 2008, she was appointed as Dean, Graduate School of Management (GSM), UPM for two years. She has brought GSM to greater heights.

Professor Samsinar is an active and productive researcher. She has successfully completed more than fifteen (15) research projects to date and is currently leading a fundamental research project. She has written and presented approximately one hundred (100) papers in various forms: journals, proceedings, conferences, book chapters and business magazines. These papers were published in the United States of America, United Kingdom, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia. She has also supervised more than ninety (90) projects/case studies at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels.

Professor Samsinar’s reputation as a resource person in consumer behavior has also been recognized internationally. She was appointed the Track Chair in the International Conference on Multicultural Marketing (1996), and the prestigious World Marketing Congress (1997), where she was one of the key persons bringing the world congress to Malaysia. She was also the editor for the proceedings of the 8th World Marketing Congress (1997) and has been appointed a panellist in session discussing consumer behavior at national and international workshops and conferences. She participates keenly in presenting her research findings in conferences around the world and has to date presented her research findings at more than fifty (50) major national, regional and international conferences. Professor Samsinar has also established good networking with Marketing and Management academicians in Malaysia.

As for her contributions to the Marketing discipline and the society at large, Professor Samsinar has associated herself with the Malaysian Association of Consumer and Family Economics (MACFEA). She served as the Vice-President (2000-2002) and Exco member (2002-2004). She is also the Exco member for Asian Academy of Management. She is a member of the Editorial Board for PERTANIKA Social Sciences and the Malaysian Journal of Consumer and Family Economics. Professor Samsinar has also been appointed as an Assessor for Quality Assurance for Ministry of Higher Education as well as for the National Accreditation Board (LAN) for private universities in Malaysia. She has been engaged as a Trainer for several major organizations in Malaysia and has also shared her knowledge and experience with Executive BBA and MBA programs.