Michael Bar-Eli, PhD, is a tenured full professor in the Department of Business Administration, Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management (GGFBM), and holds the Nat Holman Chair in Sports Research at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.

At Ben-Gurion University, Prof. Bar-Eli is presently serving as the representative of the GGFBM in the Supreme Appointments (tenure and promotion) committee of the university (third term). In addition, he has served as the representative of the GGFBM in the University’s Senate, head of the behavioral sciences area in the Department of Business Administration, chairperson of the teaching committee in the School of Business and Management, head of the management studies programs at the Eilat Campus of the University, as well as a representative of the Senate in the subcommittee for appointments of the faculty of health sciences.

At the Zinman College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences at the Wingate Institute, Prof. Bar-Eli is serving as chairperson of both the Supreme Appointments (promotion) Committee and the Academic Council, as well as the head of Sport Management in the Undergraduate Degree program (having also served in this position at the Eilat Campus of Ben-Gurion University). He served for approximately 20 years as senior researcher and Director of the Behavioral Sciences Department at the Ribstein Center for Research and Sport Medicine Sciences, Wingate Institute.

Prof. Bar-Eli earned his BA in behavioral sciences (psychology and sociology, with distinction) from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva; his MA in psychology (social and organizational, with distinction) from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem; and his doctorate in sport psychology and sociology (Magna Cum Laude) from the German Sport University, Cologne, Germany. He is a certified psychologist, licensed by the Israel Ministry of Health.

Prof. Bar-Eli's publications in English include about 170 refereed journal articles, book chapters, edited volumes, and articles in congress proceedings, on the topics of sport/exercise psychology and sport management, as well as on the more general behavioral foundations of human performance and management. He is also co-author of two innovative books: Judgment, Decision-Making and Success in Sport (Bar-Eli, Plessner, & Raab, 2011), published by Wiley; and Complexity and Control in Team-Sports: Dialectics in Contesting Human Systems (Lebed & Bar-Eli, 2013), published by Routledge.

In Hebrew, Prof. Bar-Eli has published about 40 refereed journal articles, book chapters, and edited volumes; he has also co-authored several books, including two textbooks: Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (Vols. 1 and 2) and Statistics for Physical Education and Sport, both unique in their respective areas in the Hebrew language.

Prof. Bar-Eli has presented numerous works at scientific conferences in Israel and abroad. He has also provided services to a number of national and international journals—for example, he has served as the associate editor of Psychology of Sport and Exercise and as the "Social Aspects" section editor of the International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology. Prof. Bar-Eli is currently a Reviewer for Applied Psychology, Human Performance, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Journal of Economic Psychology, and Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, among others.

Prof. Bar-Eli's study on penalty kicks in soccer was chosen by The New York Times Magazine as one of the significant highlights/most innovative research breakthroughs of the year 2008. In 2009 he was chosen to be the sixth G. Lawrence Rarick Memorial Lecturer at the 17th International Symposium of Adapted Physical Activity (ISAPA) held in Gaevle, Sweden. In 2011 he was selected by "Radio Darom'" (the Southern Radio Station) as one of the influential persons in Southern Israel. In 2012 he became the first international, non-German scientist to be awarded a DFG-Mercator-Guest-Professorship at a German university (Tuebingen) by the German Research Foundation (DFG—Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft), on the basis of his achievements in sports sciences. In 2014 he was appointed by the German government as a distinguished invited professor at the University of Heidelberg.

Prof. Bar-Eli has been intensively engaged in applied work during his professional career. Before joining the staff of Wingate in 1987, he served in senior positions in the psychological organs of the Israel Defense Forces (e.g., chief psychologist of the Artillery Corps), working on selection and placement of manpower, as well as on organizational development and consultation. Prof. Bar-Eli was recently involved in the pilot instruction program of the Israel Air Force.  [INSERT PARAGRAPH HERE] Prof. Bar-Eli has also served as psychological consultant to athletes, primarily in team sports (e.g., male and female elite basketball and football/soccer teams, as well as the Israeli national basketball and water polo teams). He has conducted numerous workshops and lectures, mainly in the area of applied sport and exercise psychology, as well as in the field of organizational development and personnel management. He is a research fellow of the Israeli Association for Organization Development. [INSERT PARAGRAPH HERE] Between 1989 and 1997 Prof. Bar-Eli served as president of the Israel Society for Sport Psychology and Sociology. Between 1991 and 2001 he represented Israel in the European Federation of Sport Psychology (FEPSAC). In 1994, he was included in a list of ten prominent European sport psychologists, published by FEPSAC for its 25th anniversary. Between 1995 and 1999 he served as a member of the managing council of FEPSAC and chairperson of its Scientific Affairs Group. He was elected in 1995, 1999, 2003, and 2007 to serve as senior vice president of the Asian-South Pacific Association of Sport Psychology (ASPASP, of which he was Founder Member in 1989); in 1997 he was appointed as a member of its Scientific Committee, and in 2000 as chairperson of its Programs and Organizations Committee; he retired from ASPASP in 2011. In 2010 Prof. Bar-Eli initiated the founding of the Israeli Forum for Research in Economics, Psychology, and Sport (IFREPS); in 2012, he founded the Beer-Sheva Forum for Bible and Management.

Prof. Bar-Eli has taught in a number of universities and colleges in Israel and abroad. In 1995 he served as guest professor at the Norwegian Sport University, Oslo. In 2003 and 2004 he became the first international, non-German scientist to serve as guest professor at the German Sport University, Cologne. In 2009 he served as guest professor at the University of Paris, France. In 2012 and 2013 he served as Mercator Guest-Professor at the Eberhard-Karls-University, Tuebingen, Germany (the only Mercator-Professorship ever awarded by the DFG on the basis of achievements in sports-sciences). In 2013 he served as guest professor at the Technical University Muenchen and at the Zeppelin University, Friedrichshafen, Germany. He has started serving a 2014-2017 term as a distinguished invited professor at the Ruprecht-Karls University, Heidelberg (an International Guest-Professorship, awarded within the Excellence Initiative of the German government).

Prof. Bar-Eli is fluent in Hebrew, English, and German, and speaks basic French.