Dr. Renato Preza, DBA, PhD

Dr. Renato Preza was born on September 17, 1974, in Korça, Albania, a city distinguished by its rich cultural, educational, and historical traditions. His paternal family name, Preza, has its roots in central Albania and is associated with historical areas that have played a role in the country’s territorial and social development over the centuries. On his maternal side, he carries the family names Stavre and Minga, both associated with longstanding families of the Korça region and its cultural and intellectual heritage. Dr. Preza holds Albanian citizenship and Albanian and Greek nationality. He married Irma in 2007, and they have a daughter, Era, whose name evokes the meaning of a gentle or caressing breeze.

He completed his early education in Korça and Pogradec and graduated from the Professional and Technical High School of Zootechnics in Pogradec in 1993, where his studies included zootechnics, animal husbandry, veterinary foundations, biology, agricultural sciences, and related technical disciplines. He subsequently pursued higher education in Agricultural Engineering at Fan S. Noli University of Korça, completing Bachelor’s and Master of Science studies in 2004.

Seeking to broaden his professional formation beyond the agricultural sciences, Dr. Preza continued his postgraduate education in management and earned a Master of Science in Management, with specialization in Project Management, from Colorado Technical University in the United States. His academic development later culminated in a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) in International Business from Horizons University in Paris, France, completed *Magna Cum Laude* in February 2025. His doctoral research examined the role of Human Resource Management in establishing loyalty and reciprocal relationships between employees and employers.

His academic preparation has been complemented by advanced professional and graduate-level studies from internationally recognized universities. These include the Higher Education Teaching Certificate from the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard University; the Leading High-Performing Teams Certificate from the University of Queensland, Australia; academic and professional writing studies; Foundations for Excellence in Teaching Online from Arizona State University; and Pivoting to Online Teaching: Research and Practitioner Perspectives from the University of Texas System. These qualifications have contributed to his continuing interest in university pedagogy, knowledge construction, educational technologies, curriculum design, student-centered learning, and the relationship between traditional academic formation and emerging digital learning environments.

Alongside his work in business and higher education, Dr. Preza has maintained a longstanding engagement with Christian theology, ministry, and counseling. He completed a Master of Ministry Studies and subsequently earned a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Christian Counseling from Trinity Evangelical Christian University & Seminary in the United States. His involvement in Christian ministry began in the early 1990s and has included youth ministry, pastoral service, Christian counseling, theological education, church leadership, and mission-oriented activities. He remains actively involved with TEAM – The Evangelical Alliance Ministry in Pogradec, Albania, whose mission emphasizes evangelism, education, and support.

Dr. Preza is also the founder of TESI Education – Theology Education Seminary Institution, an educational initiative dedicated to theological, biblical, ministerial, and Christian academic formation. Through TESI Education, he has collaborated with theologians, Christian academics, pastors, churches, and ministry organizations in developing structured theological education and opportunities for advanced study and research.

Professionally, Dr. Preza has accumulated extensive multidisciplinary experience spanning higher education, organizational leadership, nonprofit management, banking, finance, rural and economic development, human resources, project management, consulting, humanitarian intervention, and institutional administration. His professional career has enabled him to combine technical knowledge with organizational leadership and to connect academic concepts with practical institutional and community experience.

His early professional career was strongly associated with development cooperation and nonprofit management. Through Agrinas – Agricultural International Assistance, he contributed to and later directed programs concerned with rural development, poverty reduction, agricultural production, infrastructure, environmental improvement, institutional strengthening, community participation, humanitarian assistance, and economic development. His responsibilities included project identification, feasibility assessment, proposal development, donor relations, implementation, monitoring, financial supervision, institutional cooperation, and evaluation.

He later brought this experience into the banking sector, where he worked in agricultural and business lending, financial analysis, product development, credit procedures, and professional training. At ProCredit Bank, he served in national-level responsibilities related to agricultural credit products and coordinated the professional development of lending personnel. He subsequently worked as a consultant for Raiffeisen Bank Albania on market analysis and the potential development of agricultural lending products. His professional background also includes business entrepreneurship, telecommunications management, human resources and operations leadership, consulting, and public and civic engagement.

From 2018 to 2025, Dr. Preza was closely engaged with Nehemiah Gateway University in Pogradec, Albania. His responsibilities included lecturing in undergraduate and graduate Business Administration programs, coordinating practical training and internships, supervising and mentoring students, and contributing to academic program development. He also served as Head of the Department of Economy and Business, with responsibilities for academic coordination, teaching quality, lecturer engagement, curriculum implementation, and the learning environment.

His teaching experience encompasses Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral levels. His principal academic fields include Human Resource Management, Strategic Management, Organizational Behavior, Leadership, Project Management, International Business, Intercultural and Global Communication, Research Methods, and related areas of Business Administration. His approach to higher education emphasizes the systematic construction of knowledge, the integration of theory and practice, student intellectual development, pedagogical scaffolding, reflective learning, and the use of educational methodologies that encourage analytical and higher-order thinking.

Since October 2025, Dr. Preza has served as **Head of the Department of Applied Informatics in Economics at KUB – Kolegji Universitar i Biznesit (University College of Business) in Tirana, Albania**, where he is also a lecturer in Business Administration. His institutional responsibilities include academic leadership, curriculum development, teaching and research coordination, quality assurance, pedagogical development, and the integration of applied informatics with economics, business, and contemporary educational approaches. He teaches and contributes particularly in Human Resource Management, Strategic Management, Scientific Research Methods, Organizational Behavior, Leadership, and related business disciplines.

Dr. Preza is recognized as a higher education educator and instructor by international academic and educational platforms, including McGraw-Hill Education and Harvard Business School Publishing Education. His scholarly interests encompass Human Resource Management, employee-employer reciprocity and organizational loyalty, strategic and organizational management, leadership, intercultural communication, higher education pedagogy, knowledge construction, and the evolving relationship between education, digital transformation, and artificial intelligence.

His academic publications and research outputs have been disseminated through international scholarly platforms and publishers, including SSRN, ResearchGate, ProQuest, Google Scholar, and academic journals in the fields of human resource management, education, pedagogy, and organizational studies. His research reflects a broader intellectual interest in connecting scholarship with professional practice and in understanding how organizations, educational institutions, and individuals can develop sustainably through knowledge, responsible leadership, reciprocity, and service.

Throughout his professional and academic career, Dr. Preza has sought to integrate education, leadership, institutional development, and service. His professional aspirations are centered on inspiring students through contemporary and rigorous teaching; contributing to economic and institutional development; promoting accountable, transparent, and community-oriented leadership; strengthening the connection between academic knowledge and professional practice; and encouraging social environments in which individuals, families, institutions, and communities can pursue prosperity, freedom, harmony, and peace.

His academic and professional philosophy is summarized in the motto:

“Integrating Scholarship, Practice, and Service in Pursuit of Truth, Human Flourishing, and the Restoration of Creation in God.