Ivana Bestvina Bukvić is the Vice Dean for International Cooperation and Community Engagement and a Full Professor at the Department of Finance and Accounting. From 2021 to 2025, she served as the Head of the Center for Lifelong Learning at the Faculty of Economics and Business in Osijek. In the period from 2018 to 2021, she was the Head of the Department of Culture, Media, and Management at the Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek. From 2015 to 2018, she was the Head of the Chair of Cultural Management at the Department of Cultural Studies of Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek.
She gained many years of experience in the financial sector from 2003 to 2015, working as a Corporate Banking Relationship Manager at Zagrebačka banka d.d. (levels: junior assistant, senior assistant, manager). She held the position of office manager in Osijek and field coordinator for the international humanitarian organisation Catholic Relief Services (Micro+ program) during 2003. After completing her higher education, she was employed in the procurement department of the retail and wholesale company for consumer goods, Dover d.o.o., between 2001 and 2003.
During 2013 and 2014, she was a member of the Committee for Approval of Support for Projects from the IPA Program, organised by the Osijek-Baranja County, the Regional Development Agency of Slavonia and Baranja, and Zagrebačka banka d.d. Since 2022, she has been a member of the Committee for Lifelong Learning Programmes at J. J. Strossmayer University of Osijek. During 2018 and 2019, she chaired the working group for the development of accredited study programmes: the university undergraduate study programme Culture, Media and Management, and the university graduate study programmes Management in Culture and Creative Industries, and Media and Public Relations (single-major and double-major studies) at the Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek.
She has published numerous scientific papers, both independently and in co-authorship, and has been a member of organisational and programme boards for several scientific symposia in Croatia and abroad, as well as a member of the editorial boards of published conference proceedings. She is also a reviewer for conference proceedings, textbooks, and domestic and foreign scientific monographs. She is the co-author of the book "CBA – Analysis in Public Investment Projects Financed by European Union Funds." She has participated in the implementation of scientific and professional projects financed by international foundations, universities, and EU funds.
