American univeristy sharjah

Dr. Björn Kjerfve

Chancellor

As Chancellor of American University of Sharjah, Dr. Björn Kjerfve provides leadership for the university in his role as Chief Executive Officer, responsible for implementing the university's overall mission and strategy in accordance with the decisions of the Board of Trustees. While promoting educational excellence, general development and welfare of the institution, he ensures that AUS is fully engaged with both the local and international communities. He leads the effort to develop and sustain long-term research and explore the development of a Research Technology and Innovation park.

As Chancellor, he represents AUS on a national, regional and international level and is responsible for building and maintaining a network of relationships with individuals and entities from public and private sectors.

Prior to joining AUS, Dr. Kjerfve was President of the World Maritime University which he served from 2009. Between 2004 and 2009, he was the Dean of the College of Geosciences and was a Professor of Oceanography at Texas A&M University. While at Texas A&M, he oversaw four academic departments, the Texas Sea Grant Program, and the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP), including the 475'ocean sciences drilling vessel, D/V JOIDES Resolution. Prior to that, he was Professor of Marine and Geological Sciences at the University of South Carolina, 1973-2004, and served as the Director of the Marine Science Program, 2000-2004.

Dr. Kjerfve holds Ph.D., M.S., and B.A. degrees from Louisiana State University (Marine Sciences), University of Washington (Oceanography), and Georgia Southern University (Mathematics), respectively.

Dr. Kjerfve's scientific expertise is coastal and estuarine physical oceanography. He has published 12 books and 250 scientific journal papers, book chapters, and reports; has supervised 14 Ph.D. dissertations and 24 M.S. theses, and taught more than 6,000 oceanography students. His research includes problem-solving in estuarine and coastal waters as well as climate change and has attracted $20 million in research funding for 90 projects. Dr. Kjerfve's field research has taken place along the East and Gulf coasts of the USA, in the Caribbean, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Thailand, Malaysia, Sweden, the Arabian Gulf, Papua New Guinea, and Australia. In 2013, he was elected and inaugurated as a corresponding member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences.