Associate Professor Chris Fleming has been appointed the new Director of the Griffith MBA, bringing to the role a wealth of economic knowledge and experience from the private and public sectors.

Chris Fleming’s body of academic research ranges from environmental economics to tourism economics and from climate change economics to the economics of happiness. Life satisfaction in a social and economic context is a key focus, as is societal welfare, and will continue to inform the evolution of the Griffith MBA.

Prior to joining Griffith Business School, Chris Fleming worked as a senior advisor within the Sustainable Development Policy Group of the New Zealand Ministry for the Environment. He previously worked in the Ministry of Economic Development.

He moved to Australia from his native New Zealand in 2004 and completed a PhD at University of Queensland before working as a senior consultant with Marsden Jacob Associates. His move to academia, initially in Victoria, ultimately led to Griffith University where he was a founding member of the Asia-Pacific Centre for Sustainable Enterprise in 2009.

Along with a PhD (Economics) from University of Queensland, he also holds Bachelor of Arts (Economics) from the University of Otago and a Master of Applied Economics with first class honours from Massey University.

He was the co-author of a series of studies into how an effective and efficient Reef Trust be established to preserve the international tourism icon. The Reef Trust is now a key mechanism assisting in the delivery of the Commonwealth Government’s Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan.

He is a senior associate of MainStream Economics and Policy.