Professor Allan Walker previously served as Joseph Lau Chair Professor of International Educational Leadership, Dean of the Faculty of Education and Human Development and Director of The Joseph Lau Luen Hung Charitable Trust Asia Pacific Centre for Leadership and Change (APCLC).

Prior to joining EdUHK, he worked at universities in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong and conducted leader development courses and/or research in America, Europe and across the Asia Pacific.

Professor Walker has published extensively on educational administration and leadership; and school leadership development and learning. His work also explores the relationship between culture and school leadership. He serves on the editorial boards of the top ranked journals in his field, and has also published over 300 books and articles with international publishers and in the world’s most prestigious academic journals. Professor Walker’s recent research focuses on expanding knowledge of school leadership in Chinese and other Asian societies, disseminating this internationally. Furthermore, he has acted as a consultant/advisor on large-scale research and development activities in Australia, Canada, Chile, Finland, Germany, Indonesia, the mainland, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, the UK, the US and Vietnam.

Professor Walker is known internationally for his passion for school leadership, innovative approaches to leader development, as well as promoting leader control and accountability for their own professional learning. In 2010, he was made a Fellow of the Australian Council for Educational Leadership for his contribution to educational leadership research and development globally, especially in South and Southeast Asia. In 2011, he was awarded an endowed chair professorship by EdUHK in recognition of his outstanding research and academic achievements in international educational leadership. In 2015, Professor Walker was awarded the Edwin M. Bridges Award by the University Council of Educational Administration in recognition of his significant contribution to the preparation and development of school leaders. He has won six General Research Fund grants and twenty other competitive research and development grants.