Prof. Dr. Hamzah Al-Mawali: Bridging Academic Scholarship, Financial Leadership and Institutional Transformation

Prof. Dr. Hamzah Al-Mawali, CPA (Australia), is a Professor of Accounting at The University of Jordan whose professional journey brings together academic scholarship, financial leadership, institutional governance, and international experience.

Across more than a decade in higher education, his career has extended beyond the traditional boundaries of teaching and research. Alongside his academic work, he has held senior administrative and financial leadership positions, contributed to institutional development and quality assurance, engaged in international professional activities, and built an active research and editorial profile.

At the centre of his professional philosophy is a clear belief: academic knowledge creates greater value when it is translated into responsible decisions, stronger institutions, and measurable impact.

From Accounting Scholar to Academic Leader

Al-Mawali’s academic career has developed across Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

He joined The University of Jordan in 2017 and progressed from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor before becoming Professor of Accounting in January 2025. His teaching experience spans managerial accounting, accounting information systems, auditing, financial accounting, research methods, and related subjects at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

He holds a PhD in Accounting, complementing his academic career with professional qualifications and extensive experience across higher education in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

His commitment to academic leadership has developed alongside his teaching and research career. Between 2017 and 2020, he served as Chairman of the Accounting Department at The University of Jordan, where he contributed to academic programme development, graduate studies, research activities, quality assurance, and the management and development of undergraduate, master’s, and MBA accounting programmes.

This combination of teaching, research, and academic administration shaped a leadership approach grounded in both scholarly knowledge and practical institutional experience.

An International Academic Perspective

International academic engagement has been an important element of Al-Mawali’s professional journey.

His participation in international conferences and scholarly collaborations reflects a continuing commitment to connecting research with emerging business, accounting, and technological challenges.

His research interests include digital transformation in accounting and auditing, financial technology, computer-assisted audit tools and techniques, accounting information systems, sustainability and environmental accounting, strategic performance measurement, and management accounting.

His work has appeared in a range of Scopus- and Web of Science-indexed journals, including the Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, Competitiveness Review, and Journal of Modelling in Management.

Recent publications further reflect his interest in the relationship between business and emerging technologies, including research on artificial intelligence, blockchain, digital auditing, FinTech, green supply chains, and data-driven business environments.

For Al-Mawali, research is most valuable when it does more than contribute to academic debate. It should also help organisations better understand emerging risks, technologies, governance challenges, and opportunities for improvement.

Leading Financial Governance at The University of Jordan

A major chapter in Al-Mawali’s professional career has been his contribution to financial leadership and institutional governance at The University of Jordan.

From September 2020 to October 2024, he served as Director of Financial Affairs, overseeing important areas of university financial management, including revenues and fees, expenditure, payroll, taxation, cash-flow management, budgeting, and internal control.

His responsibilities also included participation in university-level committees concerned with budgeting, investment, tendering, legislation, savings, and other institutional matters.

In October 2024, he moved into the role of President’s Assistant for Financial Affairs and Funds, serving until October 2025.

In this position, his responsibilities expanded to include strategic financial planning, budgeting, financial oversight and reporting, fund management, cost control, compliance, audit, financial systems, and the development of the university’s financial strategy.

These positions placed him at the intersection of finance, governance, and university strategy.

During his financial leadership service at The University of Jordan, Al-Mawali contributed to the design and implementation of the University’s financial strategy, with a focus on fiscal discipline, liquidity and cash-flow management, expenditure rationalisation, revenue enhancement and diversification, and stronger financial governance. Over this period, the University’s outstanding financial obligations were reduced from approximately JD 27 million to near zero, significantly strengthening its liquidity, financial sustainability, and overall financial position.

Rather than viewing financial management only as an administrative or control function, Al-Mawali’s experience has reinforced a broader perspective in which budgeting, financial systems, resource allocation, internal controls, and accountability should support an institution’s long-term objectives.

Connecting Financial Management with Institutional Development

Al-Mawali’s approach to financial leadership has been shaped by experience in more than one higher education environment.

Earlier in his career, while serving as Financial Advisor to the President of the American University of Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE, he contributed to purchasing policies, authority matrices, disbursement procedures, responses to external auditors, feasibility studies, and the establishment of internal control systems.

This experience across Jordan and the UAE broadened his understanding of the relationship between financial governance, institutional systems, and organisational sustainability.

It also reinforced the importance of linking financial decision-making with strategy rather than treating the two as separate areas of management.

Academic and Editorial Leadership

Al-Mawali’s contribution to academia also extends into scholarly publishing and editorial leadership.

He is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Sustainable Finance and Business Innovation (JSFBI), a peer-reviewed academic journal focusing on sustainable finance, accounting, auditing, business innovation, and digital transformation.

In this role, he oversees editorial policy, peer-review processes, ethical standards, and the journal’s development strategy.

He is also an editor of the IGI Global book project Digital Accountability and Governance in Auditing, Assurance, and Financial Reporting, which addresses contemporary issues including artificial intelligence, blockchain, digital assurance, governance, and technology-enabled transformation in accounting and auditing.

His professional development also reflects the increasing convergence between accounting and technology. He is a CPA Australia member and has completed professional development in data analytics through AICPA & CIMA, in addition to qualifications and training related to IFRS and artificial intelligence.

Regional and Professional Engagement

Beyond university teaching and administration, Al-Mawali has contributed to executive education and professional development across the Middle East.

His training experience has included programmes involving organisations and public-sector institutions such as Dubai Municipality, Abu Dhabi Municipality, ADNOC, Ras Al Khaimah Government, ARAMCO, and Saudi universities.

His training activities have covered areas including financial management, strategic planning, auditing, cost control, performance management, and research methodology.

These experiences have further shaped his view that an academic’s contribution should extend beyond publications and classrooms.

Knowledge becomes more meaningful when it can be applied to the challenges faced by institutions, professionals, decision-makers, and society.

Recognition and Professional Contribution

Throughout his career, Al-Mawali has worked across several dimensions of higher education: teaching, research, academic leadership, financial management, institutional governance, professional development, and scholarly publishing.

Rather than viewing these as separate professional paths, his career demonstrates how they can reinforce one another.

Research can improve decision-making. Financial governance can strengthen institutional sustainability. Academic leadership can create better environments for teaching and research. And responsible governance can bring these elements together around a shared institutional purpose.

A Leadership Philosophy Built on Accountability

Across his academic and administrative career, one principle has remained central to Al-Mawali’s professional outlook:

Accountability should contribute to value creation, not simply satisfy compliance requirements.

Effective leadership, in his view, requires an ability to connect knowledge with action, strategy with implementation, and institutional ambition with financial responsibility.

It also requires recognising that meaningful institutional achievements are rarely the work of one individual.

Universities and organisations progress when people, systems, and resources are aligned around common objectives, and when individuals are given the opportunity to contribute to those objectives.

This perspective has shaped his work with academic colleagues, administrative teams, students, researchers, and professionals throughout his career.

“Leadership creates lasting value when knowledge is translated into responsible decisions, strong institutions and meaningful impact.”

Prof. Dr. Hamzah Al-Mawali

Icons Jordan Recognition

Prof. Dr. Hamzah Al-Mawali’s professional journey represents a distinctive intersection of academic scholarship, financial leadership, and institutional governance.

From university teaching and research to departmental leadership and senior financial administration, his career has consistently connected professional knowledge with institutional responsibility.

Today, as Professor of Accounting at The University of Jordan, he continues to contribute through teaching, research, editorial leadership, professional engagement, and international academic collaboration.

His journey illustrates how academic expertise can move beyond the classroom and contribute to stronger institutions, more informed decisions, and a wider culture of accountability and continuous development.