Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Derry, Northern Ireland
About David Hassan
- David Hassan (born 16 November 1972, Derry, Northern Ireland) is an academic, writer, and current Associate Dean of the Faculty of Life and Health Sciences (Global Engagement) at Ulster University.
- He is also Professor of Sport Policy and Management at the University, which has an international reputation for sports scholarship.
- Professor Hassan has also held research leadership positions at Ulster, most recently as the Head of the Research Graduate School for the Faculty of Life and Health Sciences, home to some 340 Phd students.
- In 2016 he was also appointed Provost of the Belfast campus of Ulster University, which is currently undergoing a £250 million redevelopment.
- He is known internationally for his collaborative work with the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the world governing body of motorsport, and has a close working relationship with its President Jean Todt and Vice-President Mohammed Ben Sulayem. His research on motorsport in various parts of the work, specifically across the Middle East, has been widely cited.
- He has published 14 books and over 165 other research outputs, including 90+ peer reviewed articles in leading international journals and book chapters.
- A commissioned anthology of his foremost academic writings will be published by Taylor and Francis in 2017, whilst he has advised numerous universities worldwide on their research strategies.Hassan's impactful research in the field of motorsport included a study he led on the viability (for the first time) of a round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) being staged in Ireland, which was realised in 2007 and became the largest North-South sporting initiative ever undertaken.
- Hassan's research revealed that hosting the 2007 WRC round was worth €46 million to the Irish economy.
- Rally Ireland 2007 had over 240,000 spectators and a TV audience in 180 markets and was attended by Princess Anne, a member of the British Royal family, as well as political leaders from both Britain and Ireland, including then British Secretary for State for Northern Ireland, RH Peter Hain MP.Hassan is also well respected as Academic Editor of Sport in Society, one of the preeminent international academic journals in the field, a leadership role he has held for over a decade.
- In 2008 he was also appointed Series Editor of Foundations in Sport Management, by the academic publishers Routledge, a collection featuring many global academics working in this realm.
- During this same year he was invited to become an International Scholar with the International Football Institute, whilst he has delivered over 25 invited lectures, including at Oxford University during the Summer Olympic Games of 2012 and again during the FIFA World Cup of 2014.
- His views on sport governance, specifically in Europe, are widely regarded; not least his observations on the efficacy of the sporting model employed by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), Ireland's successful sports governing body.
- Indeed, as a mark of this esteem, he was appointed in 2015 to a 12-person strategic task force – Towards 150 – by the then President of the GAA, Aoghan O Farreil, tasked with defining the future direction for Ireland's largest sporting body, with over 1 million members in Ireland alone. His sustained leadership role when promoting links between Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was supported by the First and Deputy First Ministers in the Northern Ireland Assembly, Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness, and substantially by its investment arm, Invest NI.
- In 2007 Prof Hassan was appointed to the Irish Football Association's (IFA) 'Football for All' Executive Advisory panel (regarded as a model of best practice by UEFA, Europe's governing body for soccer), and remains a key advisor on policy to a range of international sporting associations, including Zayed Higher Organization for Humanitarian Care and Special Needs, based in Dubai.
- Prof Hassan was an expert witness at the high-profile UEFA investigation, held in January 2014, into events at the Champions League games played at the Amsterdam Arena in the Netherlands in November 2013, which was marred by racist and sectarian chanting on the part of Ajax fans towards their contemporaries from Glasgow Celtic FC. He is also Founding Co-Director of the Special Olympics Regional Research Collaborating Centre for Europe-Eurasia based at Ulster.
- The facility was officially opened by Special Olympics Europe Eurasia CEO Mary Davis in April 2011 at the university's Jordanstown campus.
- His work in this area, which has secured over £275k in external funding to date, has significantly enhanced the use of sport to aid levels of integration by young people with intellectual and developmental disabilities across Europe and further afield, including in India.
- He is a member of the editorial board of numerous academic journals including Telesna Kultura, which is regarded as the leading non-English language journal dealing with sport in mainland Europe.
- He is also an established member of the European Federation of Adapted Physical Activity and delivered an address at its most recent conference in May 2012 in the Republic of Ireland.
- In 2009 Prof Hassan was awarded a US Government grant to undertake further collaborative study with Boston College, Mass on sport and good relations whilst he remains Visiting Professor at the University of Technology, Sydney and Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia, amongst others.
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