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Tag: Pamplin College of Business

Va. Tech names new biz school dean

Saonee Sarker, a professor at Sweden’s Lund University, will serve as the next dean of the Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business following an international search.

Virginia Tech announced Sarker’s new role Monday. She has been a professor in Lund University’s Department of Informatics in the School of Economics and Management since 2021, and is also a visiting professor at the London School of Economics’ management department. Sarker, who succeeds interim dean Roberta “Robin” Russell, will start her new position July 1.

The new role also marks a return to Virginia for Sarker, though it comes with a twist. She previously served at the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce from 2013 to 2021, where she worked in roles including senior associate dean for academic affairs, area coordinator of IT and professor of IT.

“Saonee’s strong academic leadership experience, global perspective, and commitment to recruiting and retaining a diverse community of business faculty is well aligned with the goals and priorities of the Pamplin College of Business and the university,” Virginia Tech Executive Vice President and Provost Cyril Clarke said in a statement. “I look forward to her joining our leadership team and supporting her efforts to lead the college and advance Virginia Tech’s land-grant mission and global reputation.”

Sarker earned a bachelor’s degree from Lady Brabourne College at Calcutta University in India, an MBA from the University of Cincinnati, and a Ph.D. from Washington State University, where she worked for 11 years in a variety of roles, including as a professor, a Ph.D. program coordinator and as chair of the management and information systems department.

Sarker is also senior editor emeritus and director of diversity, equity and inclusion for MIS Quarterly, a peer-reviewed academic journal covering research in management information systems and IT and she also serves as senior editor of the Journal of the Association for Information Systems. Her research interests include smart infrastructure and sustainability, health care information technology and technostress, technology-enabled collaboration and more.

“I am honored to join the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech as its next dean,” Sarker said in a statement. “The college is experiencing tremendous positive momentum, and I look forward to partnering with new colleagues, alumni, and industry partners to advance a world-class business education ecosystem with far-reaching societal impact.”

Russell has served as interim dean since July 2022 following the retirement of Robert Sumichrast. She is also retiring after a 40-year career at the university.

“I would like to thank Robin Russell for her outstanding leadership and guidance as interim dean and for continuing to elevate the Pamplin College of Business during this transition,” Clarke said. “I know that she will continue to be a valuable resource for the new dean and will advocate for and support the college’s future growth and success.”

This is the second announcement of new leadership at Virginia Tech colleges in less than a week. On Friday, the university announced it had hired Tsai Lu Liu to lead the College of Architecture, Arts and Design.

Apex Systems co-founder gives $500,000 to Va. Tech

Virginia Tech’s Apex Center for Entrepreneurs has received a $500,000 donation from Apex Systems co-founder Win Sheridan.

A 1994 Tech graduate with bachelor’s degrees in political science and English with a minor in business administration, Sheridan made the donation to help the Apex Center engage with student entrepreneurs through programing, networking and funding, according to a news release. Launched in 2014, the Apex Center is named in recognition of a $5 million commitment from Sheridan and fellow Virginia Tech alumni and Apex co-founders Brian Callaghan, Ted Hanson and Jeff Veatch. Based in Glen Allen, Apex Systems is a subsidiary of Henrico County Fortune 1000 information technology company ASGN Inc., which acquired Apex in 2012.

The Apex Center is housed in Tech’s Pamplin College of Business. More than 2,000 students participated in educational programming and events during the 2021-22 academic year, and 530 of those students, representing 112 majors, participated in experiential learning opportunities hosted by the center. During that same year, more than $21,000 in grants and cash prizes were awarded to 49 student-led startup teams to build and launch new products and services.

Glen Allen-based Apex Systems LLC was founded in 1995. Sheridan is now a director of its parent company, ASGN Inc., and together it and Apex form one of the nation’s largest IT staffing services. Sheridan was recognized as Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2003. He sits on boards of several nonprofit organizations, including PeacePlayers International, and is a partner in Alexandria Restaurant Partners, which owns, operates and or manages nine restaurants in Florida and Northern Virginia.

“Win Sheridan is a tremendous leader and from the start has been deeply engaged in our mission of inspiring and empowering Virginia Tech students to turn their passion, purpose, and ideas into action,” Derick Maggard, executive director of the Apex Center, said in a statement. “There is extraordinary demand for our programs, and Win’s commitment will help supercharge our ability to provide students with transformative experiential education and growth opportunities.”

Sheridan’s gift will also facilitate more mentorships for students and will offer more more opportunities to to meet with potential investors outside of Blacksburg and attend national pitch competitions.

“Across every industry, entrepreneurship is a force multiplier for good,” Sheridan said. “ Supporting the Apex Center is a philanthropic investment in the next generation of entrepreneurs — and their potential to impact positive change within their networks, local communities, and on a global scale. It’s my hope this gift will inspire fellow entrepreneurs to rally behind this dynamic center so that future Hokie entrepreneurs can take advantage of top-notch programs and build meaningful connections to propel their ventures.”

Sheridan donated $1 million to Inova Health System last year to endow the directorship of the Inova Molecular Tumor Board at Inova Schar Cancer Institute.

 

 

Va. Tech business school dean retires, interim named

Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business has named Roberta “Robin” S. Russell as its interim dean, effective July 1.

Russell, who heads Pamplin’s Department of Business Information Technology, succeeds Robert Sumichrast, who has retired. Russell will serve while the college conducts an international search for a new dean.

In May, Tech hosted in-person and virtual forums with three finalists for the position, including Mark Ferguson, senior associate dean for academics and research at the University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business; Anthony Ross, associate dean for research and doctoral programs at the University of Missouri’s Trulaske College of Business; and Lara Khansa, Pamplin’s associate dean for undergraduate research. A fourth candidate, Brian Butler, senior associate dean at the University of Maryland’s College of Information Studies, withdrew his name from consideration.

Ferguson told Virginia Business in an email Wednesday that he had not heard “directly” from Tech since interviewing with the university but had seen the news about the interim hire on its website and assumed it meant the search would continue. Butler wrote in an email that he accepted an offer from the University of Alabama to lead its College of Communication and Information Sciences.

David Geurin, a spokesperson for Tech, said in an email that the search remains in progress and a finalist hasn’t been selected. Geurin declined to comment on the status of specific candidates but said the university hopes to conclude its search for a permanent business school dean by the end of this year.

Russell joined Virginia Tech as an assistant professor in 1983 and has headed the business IT department since 2017, according to a news release. Her research and teaching focuses on operations and supply chain management, service operations and security, privacy and trust. She also examines issues in quality in supply chain management with an emphasis on humanitarian and health care operations.

Russell earned her Ph.D. and bachelor’s of science degrees from Virginia Tech and an MBA from Old Dominion University. She has also earned certifications from the Association for Supply Chain Management in production and inventory management, and she is a certified supply chain professional. A past president of the Southwest Virginia chapter of American Production and Inventory Control Society and the APICS Foundation, Russell has been honored by Pamplin for excellence in teaching as well as for her efforts to build diversity. In 2016, she received the Gryna Award from the American Society for Quality for her research in health care quality.

“Through her collaborative work in the Pamplin College of Business and with faculty and department heads across the campus, Robin has earned the respect and admiration of her colleagues and is well-positioned to effectively lead the college during this transition,” Tech Executive Vice President and Provost Cyril Clarke said in a statement. “Her knowledge of and contributions to Pamplin’s strategic priorities and how those priorities advance the university’s strategic vision for the future is critically important. Robin has my full confidence and support, and I look forward to having her as part of my leadership team.”

Va. Tech receives $1M gift for learning accelerator

Virginia Tech on Tuesday announced that it will establish a new learning accelerator at the university’s Pamplin College of Business through a $1 million gift from an alumnus and his wife.

Omar Asali, a 1992 Virginia Tech graduate and chairman and CEO of Ohio-based Ranpak Holdings Corp., made the gift with his wife, Rula, through their family foundation.

The Asali Learning Accelerator will “provide a dedicated space for Pamplin undergraduates to receive and deliver academic coaching services that are tailored to support students’ individual academic goals,” according to a news release. It will be housed in the second building at Tech’s Global Business and Analytics Complex (GBAC), which is under construction and expected to be completed by 2025.

“Rula and I are proud to support educational initiatives that mentor students in both the classroom and applied situations,” Asali said in a statement. “Having immigrated to the United States from Jordan, I am grateful for the education I received from Pamplin. … The foundation of my undergraduate education 30 years ago well prepared me for the workforce and for graduate business school at Columbia University. The vision for GBAC elevates Virginia Tech’s reputation and reach with first-rate facilities that bring together business, engineering and science across one ecosystem.”

Ranpak Holdings provides sustainable, paper-based packing solutions for e-commerce and industrial supply chains. Asali has served on the board of the Virginia Tech Foundation since 2018, guest lecturing during Ethics Week, and serving as a Wells Fargo Distinguished Lecturer at Pamplin.

“We are grateful for Omar and Rula Asali’s generous commitment and for their continued philanthropic leadership and engagement in Pamplin,” Pamplin Dean Robert Sumichrast said in a statement. “This announcement marks a tremendous milestone in Pamplin’s efforts to scale its learning offerings for our undergraduate students.

Va. Tech complex to house biz programs

Fall visitors to Virginia Tech are likely to spot laborers hard at work on the university’s Data and Decision Sciences building, the first of four buildings that will make up the university’s Global Business and Analytics Complex (GBAC) — classroom and living spaces centered around using data to address problems facing businesses and society.

“We’ve been working on this project for years, so to be at the point where the first of the four buildings is coming out of the ground feels great,” says Robert Sumichrast, dean of Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business.

To woo Amazon.com Inc. to bring its HQ2 East Coast headquarters to Northern Virginia, state leaders in 2018 created the Tech Talent Investment Program, a workforce pipeline initiative. As part of it, the General Assembly allocated $69 million for the Data and Decision Sciences building, and Virginia Tech officials agreed to add at least 2,000 additional students in computer science, computer engineering and related disciplines.

Scheduled to open in 2023, the 115,000-square-foot Data and Decision Sciences building will serve multiple colleges, including the College of Engineering, the College of Science and the Pamplin College of Business. The building will include specialized labs, data visualization classrooms and team rooms for interdisciplinary student collaboration.

The second academic building to be built as part of the GBAC will house the Pamplin College of Business. Currently, faculty members from the business college’s real estate and hospitality and tourism management departments have offices scattered across campus due to a lack of room in Pamplin Hall, the college’s current home. “Being able to bring them together will really allow more synergy within the business college,” Sumichrast says.

Additionally, the GBAC complex will include two “living-learning residential communities” with housing for 700 undergraduates studying business, science and engineering. It will also have entrepreneurship laboratories and faculty-in-residence apartments.

As of late September, Virginia Tech had put together all but a little under $8 million for the $250 million GBAC through state and private funding, according to Sumichrast.

The Deloitte Foundation, in partnership with Virginia Tech alumni who work at Deloitte, are contributing $3 million to build the GBAC. Virginia Tech also received $2.5 million from the KPMG Foundation and former KPMG Chairman and CEO Lynne Doughtie and her husband, Ben; a $2.1 million grant from the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation; and $1.6 million raised to date by Virginia Tech alumni working at Ernst & Young.

“I’m confident that by next summer we’ll have the money raised,” Sumichrast says.  

Va. Tech’s College of Business dean to retire

Robert T. Sumichrast, the Richard E. Sorensen Chair and dean of Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business since 2013, announced his retirement Tuesday.

Sumichrast will stay through the end of the current academic year. Virginia Tech will start an international search for his successor this fall.

He began his academic career as an assistant professor at Virginia Tech in 1984. Sumichrast launched the nation’s first executive Ph.D. program, created the online MBA program and expanded the master of information technology program, in partnership with the College of Engineering.

“Dr. Sumichrast dedicated nearly three decades to Virginia Tech as an instructor, administrator, and exceptional leader,” Virginia Tech President Tim Sands said in a statement. “During his tenure, the Pamplin College of Business has significantly advanced its student experience, research productivity, and the engagement of alumni and the business community. The university greatly appreciates his exceptional service.”

In 2003, Sumichrast left Virginia Tech to become the dean of the E.J. Ourso College of Business at Louisiana State University and in 2007, he was named the dean of the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia.

He has sat on various boards over the years, including the Association to Advance College Schools of Business, for which he served as secretary-treasurer.