WSU names Hensler dean of Barton business school
Wichita Business Journal - by Josh Heck
Douglas A. Hensler is the new dean of Wichita State University's W. Frank Barton School of Business, the university announced Tuesday afternoon.
Hensler, who has been the dean and Sid Craig endowed chair for the Craig School of Business at California State University at Fresno, will assume his duties in Wichita by mid-summer.
Hensler was chosen over three other candidates, which included:
- Scott Johnson, dean of the College of Business at Minnesota State University at Mankato.
- Robert Pitts, dean of the School of Business and Economics at the College of Charleston
- Ravi Nath, director of the Joe Ricketts Center and the Jack and Joan McGraw Endowed Chair in IT Management at the College of Business Administration at Creighton University.
A fifth candidate, Chuck Williams, dean of the Eberhardt School of Business at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., this spring withdrew his name from consideration because he accepted the dean's position at Butler University in Indianapolis.
The five finalists were interviewed in the past two months for the position that was vacated when John Beehler resigned in July to become business dean at Northern Kentucky University.
Hensler also will be charged with finding a replacement for Janet Harrah, who announced Friday that she would take a job at the Center for Economic Analysis and Development at NKU. Harrah spent nine years at Wichita State.
Hensler holds a Ph.D. in finance from the University of Washington, an MBA from the University of Portland and a Bachelor of Science in engineering from Princeton University. Prior to becoming dean at Cal State Fresno, he was the W. Edwards Deming Distinguished Professor of Management at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
He also has held positions at the University of Texas at Arlington and the University of Portland, along with visiting positions at the Vienna University of Technology, the Universite of Versailles and Arizona State University.
Hensler has published in the areas of value creation, valuation of intellectual capital, finance theory, quality, engineering economics and corporate finance.
He brings to WSU extensive international experience and experience at integrating academic business education into urban commerce, the university said, in a release. Hensler is a licensed professional engineer in California.
"The opportunity to join the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University as dean is one of the truly exceptional openings in the nation," said Hensler in the release. "The Barton School has outstanding faculty and staff who commit themselves every day to excellence in the classroom. Faculty research productivity is excellent, and their commitment to service exemplary. I am excited about joining my new colleagues in the Barton School and across the university."
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