The heart of the university: the people at Brand University of Applied Sciences
Prof. Dr. h.c. Shan Fan
President of the Brand Acdemy | Professorship of Intercultural Art
Studied art in China and Hamburg
Main area of research: transformation from tradition to modern – towards innovation in contemporary art
2006: awarded the Medal for Art and Science by the Senate of the City of Hamburg; received an honorary doctorate from BUCKS New University in the United Kingdom
Founding president of the Brand University of Applied Sciences and of the School of Communication Design, Beijing Normal University Zhuhai, China
Member of the Freie Akademie der Künste in Hamburg since 2014
Founder of the Dachina Brand Summit (formerly: Dachina Markendialog)
Since 2021: Honorary President and Associate Professor at the Institute of Brand Science at Zhejiang Wanli University
More than 30 solo exhibitions and 15 group exhibitions in museums and galleries in over 10 countries
More than 30 publications in the form of exhibition catalogues and art historical publications
Works in many public cultural institutions and well-known private collections in Germany and China
Vice-President for Education and Head of MBA Media Management program and B.A. Marketing and Communication program
Studied International Business Administration at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, Austria and at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland
Doctorate on the subject of extended warranties and consumer decisions with a major in finance, insurance science and risk management
Several years of experience in e-learning and online study programmes
Practical experience outside of academia as a portfolio manager, management consultant and founder
International scholar expertise: University of Michigan, University of Southern California, University of South Australia
Highly recognized publications: Journal of International Marketing, Journal of Business Research, etc.
Nominated for early career awards and support of research fundings: Early career award for women University Kiel; Heinz-Wüstenberg-Foundation; Academy of Marketing Science; DAAD scholarship
Studied communication sciences at the University of Münster and at Rollings College, Winter Park, Florida, USA while teaching at the Department of Foreign Languages
Experience as a strategic planner and consultant at güttler+klewes communications management, Düsseldorf
Head of Planning at Dievision Agentur für Kommunikation, Hanover
Planning and Client Service Director at Gyro International, Hamburg
Studied product design, philosophy and aesthetics at the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design
Doctorate entitled “Between contingency and necessity: The role of design in contemporary society” at Offenbach University of Art and Design
Research focus: The design of the next society, digital design, systemic and difference-theoretical foundations of design
Since 2024 Associate Professor for Visual Communication Zhejiang Wanli University
Since 2017 Member of the editorial board of BIRD – Board of International Research in Design
From 2016 – 2018 substitute professor for theory and practice at the Kunsthochschule Kassel
Teaching experience since 2010: FH Potsdam, FH Bielefeld, Hochschule für Künste Bremen, Freie Universität Bozen, Brand University, Zhejiang Wanli University Ningbo and Northwestern Politechnical University Xi’An
Studies in Sociology, German Literature and History at the University of Konstanz and the Trinity College Dublin
Long-term experience in market research and creativ agencies at Trendbüro, Sturm und Drang, Kolle Rebbe, TBWA
International market research and strategic planning and concept for such brand manufactures as Beiersdorf, P&G, as well as B2B strategies for intermediary/distribution
Presentation of branding innovations and design processes for internal and external Branding Strategies for agencies and companies
Professorship for Statistics and Forecasting Methods
13 years of business experience in finance and statistics as managing director at the Institute of Quantitative Financial Analysis (Kiel, Germany)
Responsible for a wide range of projects in the field of applied statistics such as Data management, Market research, Model- and software-based decision making, Risk management, Optimisation, Liquidity and Debt management, Empirical market analysis, Forecasting
Teaching experience in Quantitative Methods, descriptive and inferential statistics at the University of Kiel and Munich
Member of the academic staff of Prof. Stefan Mittnik, PhD. at the University Kiel, Federal Republic of Germany
Member of the Society for Financial and Insurance Econometrics, Munich
Scientific experience in the field of empirical financial analysis
He is a multi-award-winning academic and has repeatedly been ranked among the top 1% researchers in business administration in Germany
In his core research areas of brand management and social media marketing, he has published five books and more than 50 international peer-reviewed articles, including in the world's leading journals Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research and Marketing Science.
Amazon, Team Lead Marketplace Consulting (since 2020)
Visable, Senior Business Development Manager (2018-2020)
Horváth & Partners, Management Consultant (Strategy, Innovation, Sales) (2017/2018)
Research Associate and Managing Director at the Institute of B2B Marketing & Management at Münster University (doctorate) (2012-2016)
Studies of Business Administration (Focus on Marketing, Finance & Accounting) at Münster University, University Paris-Dauphine and University Autónoma de Madrid
Teaching & Research Focus: Strategy, Marketing & Sales, Digital Business & Management
Publications i.a.: Comparing the incomparable, Digital media in B2B-procurement processes, Relevance of Digital media in B-to-B transactions, Brand relevance in markets of industrial goods, 4 O’s of risk identification in megaprojects, What risks and cocktails have in common
Leben in Entlastung (2015). UVK Verlag Konstanz (Herbert von Halem Verlag).
Recent Lectures
May 2024: “The Evolution of Heritage Brands: An Educational Approach” (with Prof. Zhang Yiping), 3rd Sino-German Brand Innovation Conference, Hamburg, Germany
Dec 2023: Wenzhou Polytechnic (WZPT) (online lecture), “A.I. and the Future of Design Education”
Dec 2023: Roundtable Talk #3 “AI and Its Impact on Branding”, Mobile Studies Congress 2023, Hangzhou, China (venue at Zhejiang Wanli University, Ningbo)
Nov 2023: “NFT, AI and the End of Art” lecture and discussion with Prof. Dr. Lu Xinhua (Tongji University, Shanghai), at the Modern Art Museum, Shanghai (also produced as a podcast for MAM)
Oct 2023: Panel Discussion on Brand and Fashion, 2023 Ningbo Fashion Fair
Sep 2023: “A.I. and the Future of Design Education” The Third International Conference on Smart Products Through-Life Design (SPTLD2023), Northwestern Polytechnical University Xi’an (NPU)
Ongoing Research Projects
Generative A.I. in Content Creation and Synthetic Media – the Chinese POV (with Prof. Peter Kabel). Survey Link
Studied Visual Communication at Shanghai Jiaotong University (China), DFI College of Interactive Media and Communication Art (Germany), and M.A. in Design for Digital Media at University of Portsmouth (UK).
Professional experience as designer and creative director in Shanghai, London, and Hamburg.
Won International Young Design Entrepreneur Award by British Council.
Coordinator and organiser for art and design related international study programmes and institutes in higher education, with over 15 years of experience in various universities across China and Germany.
Served as Vice Dean of School of Design, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai.
Currently Vice Dean of Sino-German Institute of Design and Communiation, Zhejiang Wanli University.
Editor-in-Chief of Interchange, the journal of transcultural design education.
Teaching and researching focus: Visual Culture, Digital Branding, Design Methodology in Digital Media, Intercultural Teaching and Learning.
Studied industrial engineering at the University of Rostock (Germany) and at the University of The Hague (Netherlands)
PhD on the topic of customer-customer interactions in social media (awarded the Best Thesis Award Germany at the International Marketing Trends Conference 2019)
2020 - 2024 Professor of Consumer Behavior at Southern Denmark University (Esbjerg, Denmark) and visiting researcher at Maastricht University (2017) and Aarhus University (2018)
Research focus: Customer relationship management and complaint handling in the virtual environment as well as service interactions with robots and AI agents
Publications in the Journal of Business Research, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Journal of Consumer Marketing, etc.
Project collaborations with well-known partners from the logistics, automotive, tourism and sports club sectors
