VCU names new School of Business dean

By Marcia Meredith

Following a national search, Virginia Commonwealth University has named economist Michael Sesnowitz, Ph.D., as dean of its School of Business. Currently dean of the School of Business Administration at the University of Vermont, Sesnowitz will assume his position at VCU on July 1, pending approval by VCU’s board of visitors.

"In his new role as dean of our School of Business, Dr. Sesnowitz brings a wealth of experience and vision to VCU," said Roderick J. McDavis, Ph.D., provost and vice president for academic affairs. McDavis and Michael Little, Ph.D., associate professor of marketing, co-chaired the university’s search committee for the new business dean. "He recognizes the value of integrating the real-world business community with VCU. His expertise will help us continue to build VCU’s School of Business into a nationally ranked school," McDavis said.

For the past five years, Sesnowitz managed the internal and external affairs at UVM’s School of Business Administration, where he oversaw a $3 million budget, 925 undergraduate and graduate students and 24 full-time faculty members.

"I was attracted to VCU because of its strong faculty, diverse student body and location in Richmond – a city known for its vibrant business community," Sesnowitz said. The new dean also said he was impressed by VCU’s visionary leadership and commitment to business education.

"As VCU’s new School of Business dean, my initial goals are to increase enrollment and to integrate the business school further into the community and other areas of the university," Sesnowitz said.

Sesnowitz earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from the Brooklyn College of the City University of New York in 1964 and 1966, respectively. He received a doctorate in economics, with a concentration on public finance, demographic economics and international trade and finance, from the University of Pittsburgh in 1971.

Between 1969-95, Sesnowitz was a professor of economics at Kent State University where he also was acting chair of the Department of Public Administration from 1977-78. The following year, he served as a Sears Roebuck Foundation Federal Faculty Fellow at the Bureau of Consumer Protection of the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C. There, with another colleague, Sesnowitz established an office to study the economic impact of FTC regulations in the area of consumer protection. At the end of his fellowship, he earned a Commission’s Meritorious Service Award for outstanding service.

His Kent State University tenure also included positions as foundation board of directors member from 1980-95 and associate dean of the College of Business Administration and Graduate School of Management from 1985-88. As the college’s acting dean from 1988-89, Sesnowitz oversaw a $7 million budget, 3,600 undergraduate, masters and doctoral students and approximately 80 full-time faculty.

An author of numerous journals and articles, Sesnowitz also has written several reports for the federal and state government on topics such as the labor market experiences of Mexican American college graduates and the financing of higher education.

Sesnowitz replaces E.G. Miller, Ph.D., who has served as acting dean for the past year. Miller will continue to serve in a senior level administrative post in the School of Business as well as associate professor of Insurance and Management Science.

Founded in 1917, VCU’s School of Business has approximately 3,000 students enrolled in undergraduate, masters or doctoral programs and 100 full-time faculty.