We are disappointed, of course, that Gale Sullenberger, the dean of our College of Business and Economics, has accepted a position as business dean at the University of Tulsa starting this summer.
Dean Sullenberger has played an important role for the college and WSU in developing relationships with Washington community colleges to make it easier for their graduates to transfer to WSU to complete their bachelor’s degrees in business.
He has also played an important leadership role in the development of our first distance education degree program in business, again in collaboration with other institutions.
I very much appreciate the work he has done in moving our Management Information Systems program forward to meet the needs of the high tech industry in Washington. There is high demand for skilled professionals in this field, and Dean Sullenberger has helped us address those demands.
We wish him well in this new position.
Following is the University of Tulsa Release:
NEWS from The University of Tulsa
Office of University Relations, 600 S. College Ave., Tulsa, Okla. 74104-3189
Contact: Mary Waller, (918) 631-2568/Email: mary-waller@utulsa.edu
January 19, 1999
TU Names New Dean of College of Business Administration
Tulsa, Okla., Jan. 19 – A. Gale Sullenberger, dean of the College of Business and Economics at Washington State University in Pullman, Wash., since 1995, has been named dean of the College of Business Administration at The University of Tulsa.
The announcement was made today by TU President Bob Lawless.
“I am delighted that Gale Sullenberger has accepted the position of dean in our College of Business Administration,” says Lawless, “as TU moves toward the vision of being recognized as one of the nation’s finest 50 universities.”
“Sullenberger’s breadth of demonstrated experience – as a dean in both the public and private sectors of higher education – will be invaluable as he leads the College of Business Administration to new levels of academic excellence and national visibility.”
Sullenberger will join TU at a time when business schools across the country are confronting revolutionary changes in technology transfer and the delivery of a traditional business education relevant to today’s borderless marketplaces.
“Dr. Sullenberger is a visionary dean, with a track record to back it up,” says Roger Blais, TU interim provost. “We are fortunate to have him join our team and expect that his leadership will help us meet the challenges of business education in the next century. He has the skills and tools necessary to ‘hit the ground running’ when he arrives in Tulsa.”
Sullenberger, who will begin his duties at TU in June, said, “The University of Tulsa is an outstanding independent institution of higher education and an irreplaceable asset in Oklahoma. I feel very fortunate that President Lawless, Roger Blais, and the college faculty selected me to serve as the next dean of the College of Business Administration.”
Sullenberger noted that the most obvious responsibilities before him will be providing leadership for the business and health-related programs housed in the college, building strong partnerships with the Tulsa business community, assisting in the continued economic development of the region, and moving the TU College of Business Administration into the ranks of the best business programs in the country.
Sullenberger says, “This is a tremendous opportunity for me. The college already boasts a reputation for outstanding teaching, innovative curricula grounded in the liberal arts, and business graduates prepared for our changing world of commerce and industry.” The challenge, he points out, will be to continue to develop high-quality business programs which meet the needs of both full-time students and employed business professionals and managers.
In addition to the deanship, Sullenberger will hold the TU academic rank of professor of management information systems and will hold tenure in the School of Accounting and Department of Management Information Systems.
During his years at WSU Sullenberger has been influential in advancing the reputation of the College of Business and Economics (CBE). Initiatives under his stewardship include: completing a $17.5 million college capital campaign toward a university-wide campaign; developing strong partnerships with companies including Boeing, Weyerhaeuser, Starbucks, Seafirst Bank, Oracle, and Microsoft; increasing the number of women and minority faculty and administrators; and creating an aggressive student recruiting program resulting in increased CBE enrollments each year. He also played a key role in WSU’s first effort at business distance education.
Prior to his tenure at WSU, Sullenberger was the dean of the Foster College of Business Administration at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill., (1986-95). He held numerous positions at the University of Arkansas from 1971-85, including associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, associate
dean of the College of Business Administration, and professor of computer information systems. Additional teaching posts include the U.S. Army Management School and Southwestern Oklahoma State University.
Sullenberger has published extensively, presented numerous papers, and authored textbooks with coordinated video lectures.
Sullenberger received a Ph.D. in industrial engineering, with an emphasis in management science, from the University of Oklahoma in 1971. He also received his master’s degree in engineering (with a computer science option) and a bachelor’s of science degree in engineering physics from OU in 1965 and 1963, respectively.
He succeeds Rodney H. Mabry as dean of the College of Business Administration. Mabry resigned the dean’s position in May 1998 to become the president of the University of Texas at Tyler. Peggy “P.C.” Smith, professor of management, has served as acting dean since Mabry’s resignation.
Sullenberger says he and his wife, Laura, are happy to have the opportunity to return to Oklahoma. Sullenberger grew up in Norman and worked as a management systems analyst and computer engineer at North American Aviation in Tulsa. Laura was born in Tulsa and graduated from Central High School and the University of Oklahoma. The Sullenbergers have a daughter, Jo Ann Spitzer, who is a CPA employed by Caterpillar, Inc. and is married to Darrell Spitzer of Peoria, Ill. They are also the grandparents of nine-month old Megan Elizabeth Spitzer.
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