Robert Mulligan

Robert Mulligan, Ph.D., will join the Indiana University East School of Business and Economics as the new dean beginning July 1, 2016.

Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Mary Blakefield said, “Bob Mulligan will be a fine addition to IU East. He has a wide variety of skills and experiences that will help the School of Business and Economics position itself for the future. He brings a depth of knowledge in areas such as accreditation, business relations and graduate education. He will represent IU East well in Richmond and in the region.”

As the dean, Mulligan has the administrative responsibility for all aspects of the school, including faculty recruitment, development and evaluation; program development, assessment and improvement; student recruitment, retention and success; budget management and fundraising; and other matters related to the continuing well-being of the school and its faculty, staff and students. Community connections and engagement are an important part of the mission of the campus and the school. The dean will be an active partner with businesses in the local community and develop collaborations throughout IU East’s service region.

Mulligan will succeed David Frantz, who has provided ten years of leadership as Dean of the School of Business and Economics.

“I am very excited to be joining IU East and look forward to meeting and working with the Richmond business community,” Mulligan said. “The university and the region have unlimited upside potential and I am absolutely confident we can continue the stellar upward trajectory already established for the School of Business and Economics by its faculty and outgoing Dean David Frantz. Higher education will face enormous challenges in the coming years, but as educators, we’re in the empowerment business, and serving as business dean at IU East is the kind of dream assignment all educators aspire to. I’m very much looking forward to it.”

Currently, Mulligan is the acting associate graduate dean for the School of Graduate Studies & Research at Western Carolina University, a role he has held for the past year. He has been with Western Carolina University since 1997 when he started as an assistant professor of economics. Mulligan received the rank of professor of economics in 2008. He has served as the head of the Department of Accounting, Finance, Information Systems, & Economics from 2011-2014.

Before joining Western Carolina University, Mulligan was an assistant dean for the Gabelli School of Business at Roger Williams University, and he formerly worked at Clarkson University as a visiting assistant professor of economics. He has also worked with the military as a U.S.A.F. Civil Engineering Officer at Fairchild Air Force Base in Washington and Osan Air Base in Korea.

Mulligan has refereed, reviewed, and written several academic articles for publication in journals and newspapers. He has received a number of academic awards and honors, including the Excellence in Research Award from the College of Business and the BB&T Faculty Research Grant for the Study of Leadership, Ethics, and Capitalism from Western Carolina University, both in 2015.

He is a member of the Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, a founding member of the International J.A. Schumpeter Society, Kiel Institute for the World Economy Advanced Studies Program Alumni Association, Omicron Delta Epsilon International Honor Society in Economics, Beta Gamma Sigma International Honor Society in Business, Alpha Sigma Lambda Honor Society and the Military Order of the World Wars.

Mulligan received his Ph.D. in Economics and his Master of Arts in Economics from the State University of New York at Binghamton. He received his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology and an Advanced Studies Certificate (A.S.C.) in International Economic Policy Research from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy in Germany.