Washington State University has named one of its own, Len M. Jessup, to be the new dean of its College of Business and Economics, effective July 1.
Jessup’s selection culminated a six-month, nationwide search. Former accounting chair and professor Glenn L. Johnson, CBE interim dean for three years, is retiring at the end of June after 23 years with the university.
Jessup came to WSU in June 2000 as the assistant director of the School of Accounting, Information Systems and Business Law to be in charge of the management information systems major. Jessup also became the first Philip L. Kays Distinguished Professor in MIS.
“I feel deeply honored at being chosen as the next dean of the WSU College of Business and Economics,” said Jessup. “I am appreciative of the confidence and trust people have placed in me.
“WSU’s new ‘World Class, Face to Face’ tagline really resonates with me. In fact, the quality of faculty here, and the balance of their excellent research and commitment to quality teaching, was a major part of what attracted me to WSU two years ago as a professor.
“I envision the day when our business program is considered among the elite in the country, and I look forward to the opportunity, as dean, to work with everyone — the president, provost, college, students, alumni and industry partners — to make it so,” Jessup said.
One of his first initiatives, he said, will be to complete the college’s accreditation review and strategic plan development.
During his career, Jessup has received numerous teaching awards and published 29 journal articles. He also has edited professional journals and participated in and chaired several conferences, workshops and panels. His wife, Joy Egbert, assistant professor in the WSU College of Education, is his frequent co-author and researcher.
Jessup wrote the popular MIS textbook, “Information Systems Foundations,” with MIS professor Joe Valacich. They are co-organizers for a December 2003 premier conference in Seattle — the International Conference on Information Systems.
The new dean earned his doctorate in management and organizational behavior, with a minor in MIS, from the University of Arizona Tucson in 1989. As a researcher, he has concentrated on groupware, wireless collaboration, electronic commerce, and technology-supported learning and decision-making.
From 1989 to 2000, Jessup was with a number of higher-education institutions, including California State University (Chico, Long Beach and San Marcos), University of Arizona Tucson, University of Idaho and Indiana University.
Under Jessup’s leadership, the WSU MIS program has been benchmarked as the leader in the Northwest in several categories, including faculty research productivity and curriculum quality. The MIS program has drawn record numbers of outstanding students to the business discipline. A total of 244 MIS degrees have been or will be granted to WSU undergraduates. At any given time, about 500 students are majoring in MIS at WSU.
