Dr. Ghassan Abukar serves as Director of Information Technology & Telecommunications at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport Authority, where he leads enterprise technology strategy, cybersecurity governance, telecommunications, operational technology, and digital infrastructure modernization supporting airport operations and long-term organizational growth.
In this role, Dr. Abukar oversees the planning, governance, resiliency, and delivery of secure technology services across enterprise and operational environments, ensuring alignment with the Airport Authority’s strategic objectives while supporting safe, reliable, and efficient airport operations within a highly regulated aviation environment.
With more than two decades of executive technology leadership experience across aviation, public infrastructure, manufacturing, and pharmaceutical sectors, Dr. Abukar has led large-scale digital modernization initiatives, cybersecurity resilience programs, enterprise systems transformation efforts, cloud modernization strategies, and mission-critical infrastructure initiatives. His experience includes directing multimillion-dollar technology investments, strengthening enterprise governance frameworks, improving operational resiliency, and advancing secure, scalable technology capabilities across complex, high-availability environments.
Prior to joining the Ford Airport Authority, Dr. Abukar served in executive technology leadership roles supporting aviation security, airport operations, enterprise modernization, and critical infrastructure environments. His work has focused on aligning technology strategy with operational performance, cybersecurity governance, regulatory compliance, and long-term organizational sustainability.
Dr. Abukar is an active researcher and thought leader in artificial intelligence, digital transformation, enterprise governance, and technology leadership, with a focus on the ethical and philosophical foundations of machine intelligence and the practical implications of deploying AI in enterprise environments. He has published peer-reviewed articles in AI and Ethics (Springer), including work on temporal authorship, AI delegation, and the moral architecture of intelligent systems, contributing to emerging discussions on responsible AI and human-AI collaboration. His work also explores how organizations can responsibly integrate AI into decision-making and operational workflows, including his recently accepted “Balanced Automation Framework” at the Academy of Management, which examines how organizations can determine the appropriate balance between automation and human judgment in complex environments. His research has also explored project management alignment and leadership influence tactics within complex organizational initiatives through work presented at the Academy of Management.
In addition to his executive leadership responsibilities, Dr. Abukar has served as a faculty member at Kent State University, teaching information systems, technology governance, systems analysis, project management, digital transformation, and enterprise technology leadership.
Dr. Abukar holds a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems from Lebanese American University, dual Master of Science degrees in Systems Engineering and Information Engineering & Management from Southern Methodist University, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Management from Case Western Reserve University.