Dr. N. Nurlaela Arief—widely known as Dr. Lala Arief—is a distinguished Indonesian Public Relations and Communication professional specializing in Strategic and Corporate Communication. She currently serves as Director of Communication and Public Relations at Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) (2025–present), following her tenure as Head of Marketing Communication, Admission, and Industry Relations at The School of Business and Management, ITB (SBM ITB) from 2000 to 2025. She is also the former Head of Corporate Communications at Bio Farma, Indonesia’s state-owned biotech company now evolving into a life sciences enterprise. With over 20 years of professional experience, she has held numerous strategic and leadership roles in corporate, academic, and organizational settings.
Dr. Arief holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management from Padjadjaran University, a Master of Business from Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), and a Doctorate in Communication (Cum Laude) from Padjadjaran University, with her dissertation focusing on risk and health communication in vaccines. She also earned a qualification in English Communications from Nanyang Polytechnic, Singapore, and is certified in Sustainability Communication from the London School of Economics, UK (2025).
She has published academic articles in SCOPUS-indexed journals and authored several books, including Public Relations in the Era of Artificial Intelligence and Corporate Communication. Her thought leadership also extends to national media opinion pieces and co-authored book chapters.
Dedicated to advancing the profession, Dr. Arief has served as Chairperson for PERHUMAS Bandung–West Java (2015–2021) and Chairperson for Regional & Social, FHBUMN (2016–2018). She currently holds the position of Vice Chairman of PERHUMAS Indonesia (2021–2024) and (2024-2027).
Her international academic engagements include guest lecturing on Employer Branding at Singapore Management University (2023–2024), University of Malaya (2023), and serving as a Visiting Professor at RheinMain University, Germany (2025) for Media & Corporate Communication.