IFMA Announces New Director of Research

IFMA is pleased to announce our new Director of Research, Matthew Tucker, Ph.D., Professor of Workplace and Facilities Management, and Professorial Lead for the Doctor of Business Administration at Liverpool Business School. As of Jan. 1, 2024, Dr. Tucker will collaborate with IFMA’s Research Advisory Committee – an international panel of multidisciplinary subject matter experts – to examine global trends shaping the future of FM, define IFMA’s research agenda, and disseminate information to assist facility management professionals address and evolve alongside ongoing industry transformations.

Authoring more than 70 publications that include peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, refereed conference papers and industry reports, Dr. Tucker brings a deep knowledge of workplace strategy and productivity, performance measurement and sustainable FM to the association’s industry-leading novel and applied research. He has vast editorial experience and sits on a number of editorial advisory boards. He has been a senior lecturer in facility and environment management, served as research chair for EuroFM, and served as a member of the British Standards Institute Facilities Management Technical Committee FMW/1, responsible for the development and maintenance of standards in the field of FM.

Dr. Tucker takes a multidisciplinary approach to workplace and FM research, combining concepts and techniques from the built environment, environmental psychology, and business and management. Together with IFMA’s Research Advisory Committee, he will build on the groundbreaking reports and Executive Summit programs established by IFMA’s prior Director of Research Jeffrey Saunders, who recently accepted a new position as Chief Technology Officer and Strategic Advisor at Denmark’s National Defence Technology Centre.

“Matthew’s understanding of FM and the workplace from both an academic and business perspective will bring valuable observations and assessments to IFMA’s studies,” said Managing Director of IFMA EMEA Lara Paemen, who oversees the Research Advisory Committee. “He is greatly respected in the industry and has conducted research significant to FM’s body of knowledge. We’re so fortunate to have Matthew on our team. His experience, insights and enthusiasm will forward our research efforts, thereby advancing the FM profession.”

IFMA thanks Jeffrey Saunders for his considerable contributions, including reports on “Seeking Higher Ground: Navigating the FM Industry’s Transformation,” “Leading Digital Transformation in the Facilities Management Industry,” and “The Convergence: Managing Digital Risk and FM’s Role in Protecting Digitized Buildings.”

For more information and to access IFMA’s industry-leading research and benchmarking reports, visit ifma.org/resources/research-benchmarking.