Ahmed M. Abdulla Alabbasi, PhD
Gifted and Creative Education, University of Georgia
Leadership Development, Harvard Kennedy School of Executive Education, Harvard University
Leading and Building a Culture of Innovation, Harvard Business School, Harvard University
Ahmed M. Abdulla Alabbasi is the former Chairperson of the Department of Gifted Education (2019-2024). He currently serves as the Vice Dean of the College of Education, Administrative, and Technical Sciences and as Chairperson of the Department of Special Education at the Arabian Gulf University. Dr. Ahmed earned his PhD in Gifted and Creative Education from the University of Georgia in 2016 (minor: creativity). He also earned an executive education degree in Leadership Development from the Harvard Kennedy School of Executive Education at Harvard University, as well as another executive education degree in Leading and Building a Culture of Innovation from the Harvard Business School at Harvard University. Dr. Ahmed is the Director (2018-2025) and the co-founder of the Medical Students Gifted and Talented Program at the Arabian Gulf University. His research interests include creativity, giftedness, divergent thinking, problem finding, the creativity gap, and emotional intelligence. He received several awards, including the Emerging Scholar Award from the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children in 2025, the Applied Research Global Award of Gifted Education from the World Giftedness Center in 2023, the 2nd placing certificate from the American Psychological Association (Division 52) in 2018, the Doctoral Student Award and the Doctoral Level Completed Research Award from the National Association for Gifted Children in 2016. He is an active member of several organizations, including the American Psychological Association, the National Association for Gifted Children, the World Council for Gifted & Talented Children, and the American Educational Research Association.
