George Rivers is Associate Dean (Research Collaboration) in the Faculty of Business and Economics.

George has a Bachelor of Economics (Honours), a Masters of Economics and a PhD in industrial economics from Monash University.

He has worked in a range of industry-related research projects including, most notably, his research for the Royal Botanic Gardens on benefit transfer, which played a key role in securing $21 million from the Bracks Government for the construction of Stage 2 of the Australian Garden.

Another example of his impactful industry engagement is his work on power line safety for Energy Safe Victoria, which was used as evidence by the 2009 Black Saturday Bushfire Royal Commission. He has also undertaken contract research for organisations including: the Department of Primary Industries; the Department of Sustainability and Environment; the Department of Justice; The Department of Business Innovation; the Australian Tax Office; and the Australian Institute of Building Surveyors. The range of research projects he has worked on has included: road safety; animal welfare; regulation reform; integrated water management; and ICT innovation and productivity.

George also has a strong record of building key relationships with external private organisations both in his former roles as Director of the Telstra/Monash Executive Training Program and Deputy Director of the MBA, and now as the Director of the Australia Lebanon Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

George has an active commitment to the promotion of interdisciplinary research and has been involved in collaborative research activities with a number of areas across the University such as the Centre of Forensic Behavioural Science and the Faculty of Information Technology. Since 2010, George has acted as an academic research supervisor for the Australia New Zealand School of Government where he has supervised projects in the area of social housing, children in out-of-home care, and alcohol policy.

His research interests relate to the theory of the firm including mergers and acquisitions, downsizing and transaction costs.