Indiana University East will welcome a new dean of the School of Business and Economics. Denise Smith will be the new dean beginning May 15, 2019.

Currently Smith is the interim chair for the School of Business at the Lumpkin College of Business & Technology at The Eastern Illinois University. She is also an associate dean and professor with the School of Business.

As dean of the IU East School of Business and Economics Smith has the administrative responsibility for all aspects of the school, providing leadership for student success and retention, faculty recruitment, development and evaluation; program development, assessment and improvement; budget management and fundraising; and other matters related to the continuing well-being of the school and its faculty, staff and students. The dean will also develop partnerships with local businesses and industries to develop collaborations and community engagement.

Additionally, she will oversee the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) process.

Smith said during her campus visit, she was very impressed with the campus, including the art installations across the buildings and grounds.

“Everyone I met was very friendly and it was a great experience,” Smith said. “I left with a very positive impression of the university and the people there. I’m excited to join the School of Business and Economics at a time when there reaching for the initial AACSB accreditation and I’m looking forward to working with people toward that goal.”

Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Michelle Malott said she is pleased to welcome Smith to the School of Business and Economics.

“Dr. Smith has a diverse background in teaching, administration and service,” Malott said. “We were impressed by her strong commitment to student success, faculty and staff development, and to the delivery of our on campus and online programs. I am looking forward to working with Dr. Smith and to the leadership she will bring to the School of Business and Economics and to IU East.”

Smith received her Juris Doctor from Baylor University School of Law. She earned her Master of Business Administration from the University of Kansas and her Bachelor of Business Administration from Texas Christian University.

Before becoming associate dean at Lumpkin College, Smith was a professor at Eastern Illinois in Charleston, Illinois. She has also taught at Missouri Western State University in the Department of Business as an associate professor.

“One of the things that impressed me most was the obvious commitment to students, to student learning, to student excellence,” Smith said. “I’ve always worked at universities with a teaching focus and that’s what I found at IU East as well.”

She is a member of the American Bar Association, Academy of Legal Studies in Business, Midwest Academy of Legal Studies in Business and the Society for Human Resource Management.

Smith has published articles in the Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, Regional Business Review, Journal of Legal Studies in Business and many others. She has also presented at conferences across the United States for the Academy of Legal Studies in Business Annual Meeting and the Midwest Academy of Legal Studies in Business Annual Meeting.

Her interests in research include employment law, immigration law as it relates to the rights of undocumented workers, social media law, and intellectual property law.

Smith will locate to the area with her husband, Ken. They have three adult children and two grandchildren.