Deborah Compeau has been named the inaugural Phyllis J. Campbell Endowed Dean of Washington State University’s Carson College of Business following comprehensive discussions and endorsements from university leaders, associate deans, department chairs, and school directors within the college.
Compeau, who has served as interim dean since 2023, will officially step into the role on Jan. 1, 2025. Since assuming the interim dean position, she has provided strong, stable, and forward-looking leadership for the college.
“Since I arrived at WSU this summer, it has become clear that Dr. Compeau is a tireless advocate for the Carson College of Business and her leadership has positively impacted the college,” said Provost and Executive Vice President Chris Riley-Tillman. “In essence, she has been on a year-long interview and has demonstrated her competency and commitment for the Carson College on a daily basis. After Debbie assumed the interim dean role, she immediately engaged her colleagues within the college and across the university system to discuss how to collaboratively advance the college’s system-wide footprint.”
President Schulz and I appreciate Dr. Compeau’s collaborative, thoughtful, and outcome-focused leadership, and are confident there is no better leader for the Carson College.
Chris Riley-Tillman, provost and executive vice president
Washington State University
He added that he met with the associate deans, chairs, and directors of Carson College earlier this month to discuss this potential appointment, and received their strong endorsement — which echoed the results of Dr. Compeau’s comprehensive evaluation survey.
“President Schulz and I appreciate Dr. Compeau’s collaborative, thoughtful, and outcome-focused leadership, and are confident there is no better leader for the Carson College,” Riley-Tillman said.
During the last year, Compeau led the college’s successful reaccreditation with the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). The college was recognized for its multipronged faculty development effort to enhance teaching and learning, its efforts to promote faculty research to the business and policy communities of the Pacific Northwest, and its investments in career services and professional development. The Carson College of Business stands among the fewer than 2% of business schools worldwide to achieve full accreditation in both business and accounting from the AACSB.
Active learning is at the core of the Carson College of Business curriculum, an attribute that Compeau intends to continuously enhance. From classrooms that simulate enterprise environments, to one-on-one mentorships from successful business leaders, Carson Cougs graduate from WSU well-equipped to become leaders in industries around the globe. Part of this experience includes an international requirement, to ensure that students are familiar and comfortable working with new cultures and practices. Compeau is also leading the college towards proactive inclusion of generative AI in the teaching and learning process. “Industry expects our graduates to understand these new tools and to be able to use them thoughtfully in their work,” said Compeau. “Preparing our staff, faculty, and students to take advantage of AI opportunities and avoid or manage AI risks is a critical element of the college’s future.”
The Carson College of Business gets its name from Scott (’72) and Linda Carson. After serving in the military, Scott Carson earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from WSU and went on to work for The Boeing Company. He retired as executive vice president of Boeing and president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The Carsons’ philanthropic investments at WSU are keenly focused on student success.
“Over the last year, Dean Compeau has meaningfully engaged with our students and carefully listened to their expectations for the Next Carson Coug, a blueprint for transforming the way we educate students and for offering the best program in the Pacific Northwest, including the focus of graduation in four years which is critically important to families across the State of Washington,” said Scott Carson. “Debbie had profound knowledge as she moved into the interim dean position, and her continuity is a significant asset for the Carson College and the WSU system. I am most impressed with Debbie’s focus on outcomes and look forward to Carson College’s continued evolution.”
Compeau said she’s honored to be part of the Carson College of Business’s storied history of excellence.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to serve as the next dean for the Carson College of Business,” said Compeau. “Over the last decade, thanks to the impactful work of our faculty and staff, the Carson College has established a strong foundation. Our next decade will build on this foundation to firmly establish the college as the model school of business for tomorrow’s land grand university. The opportunities are significant, and I appreciate working at a university that values our land-grant ideals and is focused on equipping undergraduate and graduate students to lead enterprises successfully.”
Compeau is the 10th dean — and the first woman — to lead the Carson College of Business.
Prior to assuming the interim dean position, Compeau served as the Carson College of Business’s senior associate dean for faculty affairs and research from 2018–2023 and the Hubman Distinguished Professor of Information Systems since 2015. Before joining WSU, Compeau held faculty positions in Canada at Western University (2000–2015), University of Calgary (1998–2000), and Carleton University (1991–1998). She has also held visiting positions in Hong Kong and France, experiences that inform her commitment to international learning.
An internationally recognized leader in information systems research, Compeau’s work explores the interaction between people and information technologies (IT) in organizations. Her scholarship, published in the leading journals in information systems, MIS Quarterly and Information Systems Research, as well as other high-quality journals, examines the factors that lead people to adopt or reject new information technology tools, the processes by which people build their capabilities to effectively use those tools, and the organizational challenges involved in implementing new tools. Her contributions to the field earned her recognition as a Fellow of the Association for Information Systems in 2018.
With this appointment, Compeau becomes the 10th dean — and the first woman — to lead the Carson College of Business.
