By Victor Essel | The Duquesne Duke
President Charles J. Dougherty has named Dean B. McFarlin the new dean of the Palumbo-Donahue School of Business, effective July 1.
“Dr. McFarlin brings to us years of experience as the chair of the largest major at Dayton University’s School of Business,” Dougherty said. “He also has a strong record of fundraising and grant-getting. These skills will be critical for the Palumbo-Donahue School’s future success since we have embarked on a major and costly renovation of Rockwell Hall.”
McFarlin, chair of the management and marketing department at the University of Dayton’s School of Business Administration, said he looks forward to working with students and alumni in the ongoing process of improvement at the business school.
“The school has some impressive assets to build on, including outstanding faculty and staff, committed students, a strong alumni base, and national recognitions,” McFarlin said. “While business education today is evolving rapidly and the competitive pressures are intense, I think the school is well-positioned and up to the challenge.”
McFarlin, in his ninth year at Dayton, said his experience will be an asset to Duquesne’s business school.
“Being named as the next dean of the Palumbo-Donahue School of Business is both a tremendous honor and very humbling,” McFarlin said. “I think it’s important to keep in mind when assuming any leadership role that you always stand on the shoulders of the people who worked very hard to bring the place to where it is today.”
An effective dean is someone who is “making connections between various constituents, asking people to evaluate strategic options, or inspiring, if not persuading, people to seize new opportunities,” McFarlin said.
He also said he believes an important duty of any dean involves “being a catalyst for envisioning strategic directions, generating resources, and ensuring that an organization is operating effectively.”
This July, McFarlin will replace Alan R. Miciak, who has decided to return to teaching full time after eight years as dean.
“I will look for opportunities to support Dean McFarlin’s vision and strategic direction for the school,” Miciak said.
Miciak said he will join the faculty in the marketing department where he will continue to teach both undergraduate and graduate courses, in addition to supporting Duquesne’s MBA-Sustainability and Entrepreneurship programs.
“I’ll also continue to look for ways to collaborate with other schools on campus on interdisciplinary initiatives. The Spiritan’s work in Tanzania has been an inspiration to me so I will be looking for ways to advance linkages there,” he said.
McFarlin is currently in charge of the largest department in the business school at Dayton. His research included cross-cultural management, organizational justice, leadership and executive influence processes on top-management teams. McFarlin is listed among the 200 most-cited management scholars in the past 30 years, publishing more than 50 books, chapters and articles on international management, leadership, organizational behavior and other topics. He is also the associate editor of the Academy of Management Perspectives and a member of the Journal of Management editorial board.
According to McFarlin, at Dayton, his biggest administrative highlights included launching “Flyer Angels,” a $1 million student-run investment group, creating the “Center for Professional Selling” and growing the annual “Business Plan Competition,” which is currently in its seventh year with total prizes and support worth $175,000.
“I would add that all of these accomplishments were the result of collaborative efforts with committed and passionate colleagues,” McFarlin said.
Looking back, Miciak said he is very pleased with the progress the School has made since 2005. “We have made stronger connections to the business community in general and to the specific professional associations and societies that our graduates aspire to join. Our efforts have received recognition form a variety of professional associations and media organizations that focus on business education,” he said.
Under Miciak’s leadership, the School gained national attention for its “new MBA in Sustainability, renewed emphasis on business ethics, and a commitment to the teacher-scholar model,” according to President Dougherty. “A recent visit by a professional accreditation team confirmed the strong national position of Duquesne’s School of Business,” he said.
Miciak said he looks forward to having McFarlin as a new addition to the School of Business.
“He will bring some new ideas and new ways of doing things from a very strong program at the University of Dayton,” Miciak said. “He is an internationally recognized scholar in management and organizational leadership, and has developed an outstanding entrepreneurial studies program at UD.”
Photo courtesy of Dean B. McFarlin
Caption: Dean McFarlin has been named the new dean of the Palumbo-Donahue School of Business, effective July 1.
