Western Carolina University

A national search for the next dean of the College of Business at Western Carolina University has narrowed the list down to three finalists who will take part in a series of public receptions on campus and in Sylva and Asheville as part of the selection process.

The sessions are designed to give residents of Western North Carolina, including members of the business sector, opportunities to meet the candidates and assess their qualifications, said WCU Provost Kyle Carter.

“Because we expect the dean of the College of Business to be fully engaged with business and industry in the region and across the state, it is vital that we bring business people into the process of filling this critical leadership position,” Carter said. “As the university continues its efforts to serve as an economic and entrepreneurial engine for the region, the dean will play an increasingly important role in building relationships with business partners at the local, regional and national levels.”

Finalists for the position of dean of WCU’s College of Business and reception schedules:

M. Wayne Marr, dean and professor of business administration in the School of Management at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. A community reception will be held from 3:30 until 5 p.m. Thursday, April 12, at the Balsam Mountain Inn, followed by a campus reception from 5:30 until 7 p.m. in the Hospitality Room of the Ramsey Center. A community session in Asheville will be held from 4:30 until 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 13, at the Renaissance Hotel in the Top of the Plaza ballroom.

Roger A. Formisano, vice president of leadership and strategy development for the University of Wisconsin Medical Foundation. A community reception will be held from 2:30 until 4 p.m. Monday, April 16, at the Balsam Mountain Inn, followed by a campus reception from 4:30 p.m. until 6 p.m. in Club Illusions of A.K. Hinds University Center. A community session in Asheville will be held from 4:30 until 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 17, in the Renaissance Hotel’s Top of the Plaza.

Ronald A. Johnson, who holds the JP Morgan Chase Chair in Finance in the Jesse H. Jones School of Business at Texas Southern University. A community reception will be held from 2:30 until 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 18, at the Balsam Mountain Inn, followed by a campus reception from 4:30 until 6 p.m. in the Hospitality Room. A community session in Asheville will be held from 4:30 until 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 19, in the Windsor Junior Ballroom of the Renaissance Hotel.

A national search has been under way since November to find a successor for Leroy Kauffman, dean of the WCU College of Business since 2003. A resident of Clyde, Kauffman is stepping down from the deanship July 1 to return to the faculty.

The new dean will be taking over the reins of a college ranked among the nation’s best business schools by the Princeton Review in 2006 and with a master’s degree in entrepreneurship that took first place in a national competition sponsored by the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship in 2005.

The college is accredited by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. With a full-time faculty of 73, the college enrolls more than 625 full-time undergraduate students in programs in accounting, business administration and law, computer information systems, entrepreneurship, finance, international business, management, marketing, and hospitality and tourism. It also offers graduate degree programs in business administration, accountancy, entrepreneurship and project management.

For more information, contact the WCU Office of the Provost at (828) 227-7495.