After a search that included meeting with the public, Fort Lewis College has selected Steven Elias to be the new dean of the School of Business Administration.
Elias will take over for Interim Dean Paul McGurr this summer.
“We all agree that Dr. Elias will be a great asset to Fort Lewis College and the School of Business Administration,” Provost Barbara Morris said, “as we engage in strategic planning and envision our future.”
He comes to FLC from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, where he is the Robert O. Anderson Distinguished Professor in the College of Business. Elias is also co-director of the School Turnaround Development Program, an interdisciplinary initiative between NMSU’s Colleges of Business and Education.
“At NMSU, he helped raise millions of dollars for the university,” FLC said in a news release, “in order to develop and run programs meant to expose those in public education to business principles that can be used in the daily operations of schools and school districts.”
During his time in Las Cruces, Elias has also served as director of the Woodrow Wilson MBA (Master of Business Administration) Fellowship in Education Leadership program, interim associate dean for research and head of the Management Program.
“From a professional standpoint, Fort Lewis College has excellent leadership, and the School of Business Administration has outstanding faculty, students and staff,” Elias said. “It is hard not to be excited to join such a great campus community located in such a beautiful city. Ultimately, I am excited about this opportunity, given how important I feel it is to promote close relationships, which fits very well with the fact that fostering relationships happens to be one of the hallmarks of a Fort Lewis College Education.”
Among Elias’ career honors are being named an NMSU Teaching Academy Fellow and a Bill Daniels Fellow in Ethics in 2010. Elias has received the NMSU Research Discovery Award and is a lifetime member of Beta Gamma Sigma, the international honor society for collegiate schools of business.
“On a personal note, my wife and I met when we were both graduate students in Colorado,” Elias said, “and she is originally from Colorado, so moving to Durango is a sort of homecoming for us.”
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