Whidbee Named Associate Business Dean at WSU

PULLMAN, Wash. — The new associate dean for faculty affairs and research at the Washington State University College of Business and Economics is David Whidbee, associate professor of finance.

“I am very pleased that Dave has joined our leadership team, and I have complete confidence in Dave’s ability to serve the college in this position,” said CBE Dean Eric Spangenberg. “Since he joined our faculty in 1997, Dave has demonstrated that he is an outstanding teacher as well as a dedicated, impactful researcher. He has also made many contributions to the college, university and community through his service projects. He will be an excellent associate dean to lead our faculty.”

“I am truly honored to serve WSU and the CBE in this new capacity,” said Whidbee. “We have a great group of faculty, staff and students here and I am excited about our future.”

The position was created in 2002 and held first by Spangenberg, who was promoted to dean of the college in June. As associate dean, Whidbee is responsible for annual appraisals of faculty, promotion and tenure review, and improvements to the college’s performance appraisal system. He will handle the CBE’s continuing accreditation review process. The college was reaccredited in 2004 by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business and, like all of the organization’s member schools, must monitor and submit regular assessments of quality.

Whidbee has taught commercial banking and financial markets and institutions courses to undergraduates and graduate students in the Department of Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate since joining WSU as an assistant professor. He became an associate professor in 2003. His doctorate is from the University of Georgia, and his MBA and bachelor degrees are from Auburn University. After receiving an MBA, he worked as a financial analyst in the chief economist’s office at the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and at the Office of Thrift Supervision, where he performed research and analysis on the thrift industry. He also prepared congressional testimony concerning the problems the industry faced in the late 1980s.

Whidbee researches financial institutions and corporate governance. His work has been published in numerous outlets, including the Journal of Accounting and Economics, the Journal of Business, and the Journal of Banking and Finance. He has presented his research at numerous academic and regulatory conferences. His coauthored textbook “Financial Institutions, Markets, and Money,” will appear in its ninth edition in 2006.

He makes his home in Pullman with his wife, Shelley, and their daughter, Paige. He is a native of Fairfield, Calif., and was raised in Anaheim, Calif. He is the son of Faye Whidbee of Pennsylvania and the late Pete Whidbee.