Massoud Farahbakhsh is the founding Executive Director of the Center for International Business and Economic Studies (CIBES) at Salem State. CIBES has a two-fold mission that can be summarized in the following manner: The Center develops and promotes international business and economics academic programs and curricula, and assists small to mid-size businesses engaged in export and import activities. He was Chairperson of the Management Department for several years. As an elected official by the faculty, he was responsible for the scheduling of courses; design and modification of curriculum; conduct of periodic academic program reviews and outcome assessment; recruitment, hiring and evaluation of faculty; assigning student advisees to faculty and monitoring the advising system; preparing annual and long-range academic and budgetary plans at the graduate and undergraduate levels. He is a visiting professor at Ramkhamhaeng University (RU) Institute for International studies in Thailand teaching at the masters and doctoral levels.

Dr. Farahbakhsh draws on his background and expertise in international business and strategic planning to guide CIBES. He is a tenured Full Professor in the Bertolon School of Business, where he teaches International Business, International Management, Export/Import Management, Business Strategy and Policy, Business Research, and related topics at the undergraduate and graduate levels. He is Chairperson of the "All College Committee" for the past several years. All the other contractual committees report to this Committee which is responsible for formulation of institutional policies affecting students, faculty and administrators. He was the first Chairperson of the Strategic Planning Committee of the School of Business and Co-Chair of the Strategic Planning Council of Salem State College. As an elected official of these two very important committees, he was responsible for developing the initial five-year comprehensive strategic plans. As a result, the School was able to gain Candidacy Status from The International Association for Management Education (AACSB) for national accreditation, and the institution is closer to attaining university status from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

He is also an international business and education consultant, providing for his clients foreign market surveys and analysis, recommending selection of appropriate marketing channels, reviewing current operations in foreign countries, developing strategic plans, preparing academic and training programs, providing accreditation review and analysis, and offering other related services. Putting his linguistic ability to work, he serves as a language and cultural consultant. He has worked for the U.S. Departments of Justice and State, and the Berlitz Schools of Languages of America. He is fluent in Farsi and has some knowledge of Arabic, French, and Spanish.

Before joining Salem State in 1988, Dr. Farahbakhsh was Associate Director of the Business and Administrative Studies Division at Nova Southeastern University, where he held several administrative positions and taught for seven years at undergraduate masters and doctoral levels. He also held different positions for a number of years in the private sector, living and working in different countries.

Massoud Farahbakhsh has a Doctorate of Business Administration in Management and International Business, a Master of Business Administration in Marketing and International Business, and a Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature. He has received a number of academic awards and recognitions and has been listed in the International Businessman's Who's Who, the International Who's Who of Contemporary Achievement, and Who's Who in Consulting.

He has conducted and participated in many seminars and workshops on international business management and strategic planning in the U.S.A. and other countries. He has published and presented numerous refereed articles around the world. His co-authored book entitled The Global Business Environment: Theory, Applications, and Cases was published in Oct. 1995. He also co-authored Discovering Marblehead, which was published in Dec. 2001. He is working on a second book, tentatively called Principles of International Business.

Dr. Farahbakhsh is an active member of a number of professional organizations, such as the Academy of International Business, and the Academy of Management, and has served them in different capacities.

His extracurricular activities included Presidency of Horace Mann Laboratory School's Parents, Teachers, and Children Organization and coaching a youth soccer team. He also has served the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education as a grant evaluator.

His international disposition is carried over to his family where his wife is of Cuban descent. They have two children and live in the North Shore area of Massachusetts.

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