Administration

Dr. Assylbek Kozhakhmetov is the founder of the first privately owned business university in Kazakhstan - AlmaU (previously known as International Business Academy, est. 1988).

Dr. Kozhakhmetov built his professional achievements in civic engagement and higher education in alignment with the UN initiatives, such as the SDGs, PRME and Academic Impact.

He promotes an open dialogue between interested parties and partners related to the challenges of social responsibility, sustainability and impact on the society.

A graduate of the S. Kirov Kazakh State University, Faculty of mechanics and applied mathematics (1990) and Kazakh Humanitarian Law University, Faculty of Jurisprudence (2010), Dr. Kozhakhmetov dedicated himself to the development of business and entrepreneurial education in Kazakhstan. That was considered as of a high risk and lack of understanding for the post-soviet society in the 1990s.

Following the concept of the life-long learning Dr. Kozhakhmetov has graduated the Higher School of Economics with Doctor of Business Administration degree (2011) and has passed the international research internship under the "Bolashak" Presidential scholarship programme at Haas School of Business at Berkeley University (2013).

Assylbek Kozhakhmetov is currently 1) the Vice President for Central Asia of the Central and East European Management Development Association (Slovenia); 2) Board member of  The Principles for Responsible Management Education (New York); 3) Academic Fellow of the International Council of Management Consulting Institutes (Nijkerk); 4) а member of the National Council of Public Trust under the President of Republic of Kazakhstan; 5) Research advisor, Project “University Management - 2020”, initiated by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan; 6) Member of the Kazakhstani Association of small and medium business «EL TIREGI» Association of Legal Entities; 7) Member of the Council of "Civil Alliance of Kazakhstan" Association of Legal Entities.

Over the past two years Dr. Kozhakhmetov has made over 20 public presentations, 10 publications in mass media and journals, with the purpose of promoting his ideas and initiatives. For continuous commitment to serving the society and academia, Dr. Kozhakhmetov has been recognized with multiple awards locally and internationally:

• "Torch of Birmingham" Award by the international organization "People to People
• International" (1997, USA)
• "Excellence in Education" Award by Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan (1998)
• “Independence of Kazakhstan” 20th Anniversary Medal by the President of of the Republic of Kazakhstan (2011)
• State Order “Kurmet” (in Kazakh: Honor) (2013, Kazakhstan)
• The I-degree and II-degree Orders «For Commitment» by the National Chamber of
• Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan "Atameken" (2013, 2014)
• CEEMAN Champions Award in "Institutional Management" (2014, Slovenia)
• Y. Altynsarin Medal by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan (2018)
• “Altyn Zhurek” National Public Award by the Public Charity fund “Baurzhan” (in Kazakh:
• Golden Heart) for the support of education (2018, Kazakhstan)
• “Zhomart Zhurek” Award by the Ministry of Information and Social Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan (in Kazakh: Generous Heart) (2019)

Rector AlmaU 

Candidate of Economic Sciences, graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy and Economics of Kazakh State University after S.M. Kirov, scientific internship at Moscow State University after M.V. Lomonosov in 2003. Bolashak Scholarship alumnus (internship at HAAS Business School, UC Berkeley, USA, 2013).

Working at AlmaU since 2001. She has taught in both undergraduate and graduate programs. From 2006-2009 was the Director of DBA Program, 2011-2014 - Director of MBA Program, since 2014 - Dean of the Higher School of Business. In 2020, she was appointed First Vice-Rector of AlmaU. Since 2021 Rector of Almaty Management University.

Under her leadership, the HSB programs passed international accreditations, entered the global rankings, thereby becoming the leading business school in Kazakhstan.

She is a scientific editor of the National Translation Bureau of Kazakhstan, took an active part in the translation of business literature from English into Kazakh under the project “New humanitarian knowledge: 100 textbooks in the Kazakh language.”

Author of scientific articles and textbooks, collective monographs (more than 35 p.p.), including those in international indexed journals. Supervisor of master’s and doctoral dissertations.

International activities:

• Member of the Asia Pacific Advisory Council of the Association of MBAs and Business Graduates Association (AMBA & BGA, UK) from June 2020 to present
• Member of the International Executive Education Board of the Graduate School of Management, St. Petersburg State University, (Russia) from September 2019 to the present
• Member of the International Accreditation Advisory Board AMBA (UK) from November 2018 to present
• Member of the international accreditation commission AMBA (Great Britain) of business schools in China, France and Russia, as an expert in the field of quality and development of business schools (2018-2020).
• Global Advisory Council Woosong University, South Korea, March 2017 to present.

Social activities:

• Member of the Supervisory Board of the Republican Center for Health Development (RCHD) under the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan, from June 2020 to the present
• Member of the Supervisory Board of the City Clinical Hospital No. 4 from March 2019 to the present

Gulnara Kurenkeyeva is:

• Winner of the Prize of the Association of Economists of Kazakhstan for the collective monograph “Parameters of state regulation, economic and mathematical modeling of the reproductive system and the state policy of attracting foreign investment in the Republic of Kazakhstan,” 2005.
• Winner of the CEEMAN CHAMPION AWARDS -2021 in the nomination School Leader of the Year, 2021.