The Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business, first organized in 1917, is now the second largest school at the university. Among its goals: to be a leading technologically-focused business school that is closely aligned with an innovative school of engineering and capitalizes on its affiliation with an outstanding academic medical center. The school of business educates approximately 3,200 undergraduates and more than 575 graduate students, nearly two-thirds of the latter working while employed in Richmond area corporations, in two undergraduate and eight graduate programs, including the doctorate.

Students are taught by 101 full-time faculty members and more than 60 who bring direct business experience into the classroom on a part-time basis. They are organized in six departments: marketing; accounting; economics; finance, insurance and real estate; information systems and management. VCU was the first business school in the nation to gain accreditation by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), for its undergraduate information systems program. The school has an annual budget of $26.4 million and a foundation with approximately $80 million in gross assets, both permanently restricted and quasi endowment. The more than 21,000 alumni include chairs, presidents or CEOs of the businesses they serve. The dean will share the responsibility for providing vision and leadership in academic, scholarship, community engagement and fund development activities for a key component of the university.

The dean will help to shape the future of the school, articulating a vision consistent with the University’s approved strategic plan, defining its standard of excellence, the directions of its growth and new and multi-disciplinary connections across the university, particularly with engineering and with the health sciences. He or she will set the standard for intellectual engagement and scholarly accomplishment, advancing research and scholarship, education and engagement in business, particularly in Richmond and throughout the Commonwealth. The dean will nourish and extend private sector partnerships, both supporting them through education of the future workforce, engaging the expertise of the faculty to address business and community issues and generating their support for their research. While promoting excellence and diversity, the dean will be responsible for student and faculty retention and recruitment. The dean will be responsible for managing the resources of the school, its academic programs; its faculty, staff, and students; its facilities; and its budget. The dean, who reports to the provost, will work collaboratively with the president and provost, other deans, department chairs, senior university leadership and the leadership of the VCU Business Foundation to advance the mission and vision of Virginia Commonwealth University and its school of business.

The university anticipates that the new dean will bring a distinguished record of academic and management success and a record of scholarly achievement; however, candidates whose leadership abilities and outstanding accomplishments in business could translate well to academia also are welcomed and will receive serious attention. He or she will have demonstrated the ability to foster a climate where learning and discovery flourish. The dean will show the ability to balance strong academic and intellectual leadership with effective external relationship-building and resource development. Interested individuals should provide a letter describing their interest in and qualification for the position, curriculum vitae, and the names and contact information of five references to VCUBusiness@wittkieffer.com. For more information about the VCU School of Business consult its website: www.business.vcu.edu. Virginia Commonwealth University is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer, building strength through diversity.