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Liesl Riddle

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Liesl Riddle

Associate Professor of International Business and International Affairs; Dean of the College of Professional Studies

Full-time Faculty

Contact:

Email: Liesl Riddle
Office Phone: 202-994-1217
2201 G Street NW, Suite 401 Washington, D.C. 20052

Liesl Riddle, Ph.D., is the dean of the George Washington University's College of Professional Studies (CPS) and an associate professor of international business and international affairs. As dean of CPS, she oversees bachelor's completion, master’s and executive programs designed to empower students to make an impact in specific industries. She also leads several innovative schools and centers, including the Graduate School of Political Management, the Center for Excellence in Public Leadership and the Cyber Academy. Dr. Riddle also serves as a member of the Penn West Equity & Innovation District Advisory Committee, developing linkages between the College and greater University with this upcoming engine of growth in the D.C. economy.

Before coming to CPS, Dr. Riddle served as vice dean for strategy in the GW School of Business (GWSB). She developed and established key partnerships to support GWSB's five-year strategic plan in that role. She also served as GWSB's associate dean for graduate programs, launching the school's now top-ranked online MBA in 2013 and developing an in-house instructional design team and studio that helped launch several additional GWSB online degrees and graduate certificates. In 2018, Dr. Riddle spearheaded a comprehensive reimagination of GWSB's graduate programs, creating a stackable system of over 20 graduate certificates into the school's MBA and specialized master's degrees portfolio.

With the faculty, Dr. Riddle launched three new master's degrees (including a first-of-its-kind M.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies), five STEM master's degree formats, and 32 bachelor's + master's degree programs. These efforts catalyzed GWSB's double-digit growth in graduate applications, enrollments and rankings (for Global MBA and Online MBA) between 2018-2021. 

As a scholar, Dr. Riddle has published numerous books and articles in top academic journals examining diasporas' roles in economic development, international entrepreneurship and trade and investment promotion. Dr. Riddle conducts action research on developing diaspora investment ecosystems as a consultant along with international organizations and government agencies, including the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the International Organization for Migration, as well as several national governments and private-sector organizations.

She has received numerous teaching awards, including the prestigious university George Washington Award and the GW School of Business Teaching Excellence Award.

  • Entrepreneurial Ecosystems
  • Diaspora Engagement & Investment
  • Migration & Entrepreneurship
  • Social Impact Investment
  • Investment and Trade Promotion
  • Education, Business & Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues editorial board member.
  • Journal of World Business, special issue on Multinationals in the Middle East, guest editor.

Mobilizing Diaspora Homeland Investment Capital Project, Middle East Managerial Values Project.

  • Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, 2001
  • M.B.A., University of Texas at Austin, 1995
  • M.A., University of Texas at Austin, 1995
  • B.A., University of Texas at Austin, 1992
  • Riddle, Liesl; Ayyagari, Meghanna. “Desperate Times, Desperate Measures: Gender Differences in Upward Influence Ethics among Egyptian Managers.”Manuscript in progress.
  • Riddle, Liesl.”Adaptation of Interorganizational Networks To Environmental Change: Creating Insiders and Outsiders in the Turkish Clothing Industry.”Manuscript revision in progress.
  • Riddle, Liesl. “Beyond Clear Winners and Losers of Quota Elimination: The Case of Turkey,” in Jiawen Yang (Ed.) Globalization and the World Textile Industry. Paper was reviewed and has been accepted as book chapter.
  • Riddle, Liesl; Marano, Valentina. “Homeland Export and Investment Promotion Programs for the Diaspora: A Call to Research.” Invited paper has been submitted to book editor, Dr. Jennifer Brinkerhoff.
  • Riddle, L. et al. 2012. “A 21st Century Assessment of Values across the Global Workforce” Journal of Business Ethics. November 2011, Volume 104, Issue 1, pp 1-31
  • Ralston, David; Carolyn Egri; Liesl Riddle; Charlotte Karam; David Brock; Tevfik Dalgic; Arif Butt. “Managerial Values in the Greater Middle East: Similarities and Differences across Seven Countries” International Business Review. 21 (3):13 (2012)
  • Riddle, Liesl. Diasporas Entrepreneurs as Institutional Change Agents: The Case of Thamel.com, International Business Review, (2011).
  • Liesl Riddle, Meghana Ayyagari, (2011) “Contemporary Cleopatras: the business ethics of female Egyptian managers”, Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, Vol. 4 Iss: 3, pp.167 – 192
  • Nielsen, Tjai M. and Liesl Riddle. (2010). Investing in Peace: The Motivational Dynamics of Diaspora Investment in Post-Conflict Economies, Journal of Business Ethics, 89, 435-448.
  • Gillespie, Kate; Liesl Riddle; Brad McBride. (2010). Globalization, Acculturation, and Local Managers in Developing Countries, International Journal of Cross-Cultural Management 10(1): 37-53.
  • Ralston, David; Carolyn P. Egri; Liesl Riddle; Laurie Milton; Irina Naoumova; Ian Palmer; Prem Ramburuth; Florian Wangenheim; Pingping Fu; Min Hsun Ku; Mahfooz Ansari; Maria Teresa de la Garza Carranza; Ilya Girson; Petelin Elenkov; Marina Dabic; Arif But
  • Riddle, Liesl, Jennifer M. Brinkerhoff, and Tjai Nielsen. “Partnering to Beckon them Home: Public Sector Innovation for Diaspora Homeland Investment.” Public Administration and Development, Vol. 28, No. 1 (February 2008): 54-66.
  • Riddle, Liesl, Jennifer M. Brinkerhoff, and Tjai Nielsen. “Partnering to Beckon them Home: Public Sector Innovation for Diaspora Homeland Investment.” Public Administration and Development, Vol. 28, No. 1 (February 2008): 54-66.
  • Partnering to Beckon Them Home: Public-Sector Innovation for Diaspora Homeland Investment Promotional Public Administration and Development, 2008.