Professional Biography
A marine scientist by background, Alan Duncan Priestley has over 30 years of experience in higher education in both teaching and administrative roles. After a teaching and research career in the UK, he was Dean of the UAE Naval Academy from 2010 to 2013, before moving to Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan. Initially Head of Quality Enhancement, a role in which he developed and implemented an internationally benchmarked quality framework, he became General Director for Institutional Effectiveness in 2017, taking on responsibility for accreditation, institutional evaluation, ranking, and institutional research. In addition, he serves as a member of the boards of directors at Abai and Qyzdar Universities in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
