Heather Swenddal

Heather Swenddal is a Teaching Assistant Professor of Business Administration and Academic Director of the Management Major at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Gies College of Business. Her roles include curriculum development, academic leadership, and teaching in strategic human resource management and experiential learning courses. She holds a Ph.D. in Management (Organizational Behavior) from RMIT University, an M.A. in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from San Francisco State University, and a B.A. in Journalism from Sacramento State University.

Her research focuses on international branch campuses (IBCs), organizational behavior in global contexts, cross-border education management, and inclusive academic environments. Key themes include repatriate academic challenges, institutional identity custodianship, and equity issues in global university networks. She has also published on experiential learning methodologies and client-based project pedagogy.

Swenddal's recent work explores the IBC Othering Loop and global leadership boundary-spanning practices. Her presentations address topics like temporal modality in student engagement and inclusivity challenges at offshore campuses. She received the 2023 Dean's Impact Award and 2023-2024 Student Success Impact Award for her educational contributions.

Current grants include a Gies Research Grant (2022-present). She advises courses such as Strategic Human Resource Management (BADM 313) and Business in Action (BUS 301), emphasizing real-world problem-solving and team management skills.