Dr. Suhail Sultan joins USF as 2022 Fulbright Scholar

Dr. Suhail Sultan, associate professor of Business Administration at Birzeit University, received the 2022 Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence fellowship and joined the University of San Francisco (USF) Gellert Family Business Center for a full academic year. 

Since joining the center in August 2022, Dr. Sultan has developed two research proposals in collaboration with Center Director Dr. Monika Hudson. One will be presented at the Canadian Council Small Businesses and Entrepreneurship Conference this month.

Adding an international dimension to research at the center, Dr. Sultan is working with Dr. Hudson on a comparative research paper that examines female leadership within Palestinian family-owned firms in the US compared to those in Palestine. Dr. Sultan and Dr. Hudson are also working on developing at least one Palestinian-based teaching case to be used by Dr. Sultan upon his return to Birzeit in July 2023.

During an interview, Dr. Sultan elaborated on Palestinian family businesses and explained that they are facing the same challenges that all businesses currently encounter, including supply chain bottlenecks, expansion financing and proper marketing in relation to social media. Dr. Sultan explained that these problems have been exacerbated by COVID-19 restrictions and the recent war in Ukraine. 

The Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Program supports international scholars through grants for teaching at U.S. institutions that may lack a strong international element. Both the institution and grantee benefit from this program.