IAA

Prior to joining the university in 1997, Dr. de Masi ─ over the period of more than 20 years ─ held various management positions in the US, Italy, Spain, Cyprus, the UK; and finally, Dubai with IMPACT/BBDO where he served as Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer.
Dr. de Masi holds Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts and Master of Business Administration (Marketing) degrees, the latter two from Indiana University (Bloomington) where in the mid-seventies he was an Associate Instructor. In 1997, he was granted a Doctor of Humane Letters degree by Schiller International University.
Dr. Lance de Masi has served on various marketing and creative juries and has received numerous awards in recognition of his contribution to the field of marketing communications. While President of the university, he continues to teach and consult within his field.

Nassib Boueri has been Managing Director of Wunderman network in the MENA region for five years. Wunderman is a diverse digital relationship marketing network and Nassib has been instrumental in building the company to its current position as a regional leader in direct marketing.
Nassib heads a multi-cultural team of over 140 people across 7 countries with the group providing many multi-national and regional clients support in their local marketing activities. He’s personally responsible for identifying talent from across the region and for facilitating exchange of knowledge and best practices in brand building through a variety of communication platforms.
He brings high levels of enthusiasm, energy and creativity to every business endeavour and has built enduring relationships with regional as well as international clients. As a Board Member of the IAA, Nassib is part of the Talent development sub committee and the Events & Awards sub committee.

Ghassan began his career in Sales & Marketing in Lebanon and soon after relocated to Jeddah, joining the renowned De Beers Diamond Group as Trade Marketing Director, entrusted with developing the Group’s business activities across the GCC region.

In 1999, Ghassan was recruited by the Choueiri Group – the region’s largest media sales representation company- which at the time was contracted to manage Tihama for Advertising and Public Relations – A national company listed on the Saudi Arabian stock exchange. For the next three years, Ghassan retained the post of General Manager Media Division and remained involved in restructuring the company.

Ghassan moved to Dubai In 2002, to head-up Middle East Media Services (MEMS) - a Choueiri Group company which specializes in the promotion and sale of advertising space related to key media platforms. In his current role as Managing Director, Ghassan oversees media sales and placements across a variety of leading media vehicles, including Dubai TV, Sama Dubai, Dubai One and Dubai Sports Channel, in addition to three magazine publication titles and a growing network of outdoor signages. He spearheads a team of 75, spread out across seven cities.

Ghassan holds a Masters in Economics from the Universite St. Joseph and an EMBA from London Business School.

Faris is the founder and the Managing Director of Interone Resonance Middle East a full service agency based in Dubai and with affiliate companies in Cairo and Jeddah.
Faris started his career in Singapore moving to Dubai in 1980 to work for PubliGraphics. In 1985 he was promoted to establish and head the branch of the same agency in Jordan.
Later, he joined the regional head office of McCann-Fortune Promoseven in Bahrain where he worked as Executive Vice President and COO for around 12 years. During this time he was instrumental in expanding the network and introducing new services, developing and applying systems and tools and creating local and international partnership agreements in the MENA region.
In 2000 he moved to Dubai with the same group to grow the operations in the UAE where he pioneered integration in what became known as the MENA’s largest single site agency. In 2004 he moved to set up his own practice.
Faris has worked on the marketing communications for many leading brands including BMW Group, Unilever, Coca-Cola, Nivea, Loreal, Nestle, General Motors, Etisalat, Siemens, Batelco, Emaar, Nakheel, Lipton and Johnson and Johnson.
He holds an MBA degree in marketing and with the IAA - UAE Chapter holds the office of secretary general of the current board. He is also serves on the board of IAA Global in the capacity of Executive Vice President.

Since 2001 Kamal has been managing director of Leo Burnett Dubai, Kuwait and the Lower Gulf. In that time the Dubai office has become one of largest agencies in the United Arab Emirates working with multi-national brands including GM, Kellogg’s, P&G and Philip Morris and local clients that include Dubai Holdings, National Bank of Dubai, du, Emirates Airlines and DSF.

Since joining Leo Burnett MENA in 1985 Kamal has also been managing director of Leo Burnett Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and head of new business development for the Arabian Peninsula. Previous to that Kamal led the P&G account for the MENA region, earning the brand three global business building awards and its first regional industry award.

Outside the GCC Kamal spent time with Leo Burnett working on new product development for Kellogg’s in the USA, extending his North American experience with a few years in Canada.

As a prominent industry figure, dedicated to progressing advertising in the UAE, Kamal was also an adjunct instructor at the American University of Dubai, lecturing on integrated marketing communications and advertising.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, Kamal graduated in 1985 from the American University of Beirut with an MBA.