Leadership, Identity and Culture: College Welcomes New Dean

college welcomes new dean

Following a national search, Dr. Satish Deshpande, a longtime Western Michigan University faculty member and administrator, became dean of WMU’s Haworth College of Business on Jan. 1.

Deshpande, a professor of management, has served as the interim dean of the college since July 2016. Prior to that, he served for five years—2011 to 2016—as the college’s associate dean for operations and graduate programs.

A faculty member since 1990, Deshpande’s teaching specialty is human resource management. His research has focused on managerial decision making and ethics, health care management, and applied psychology. He is widely published on such topics as labor negotiations and unions, personnel management in health care, small business labor issues, and ethical conduct in workforce management.

“I am very excited for the opportunity to lead the Haworth College of Business,” Deshpande says. “I deeply value the talent, work ethic and creativity of our faculty, staff and students. As we work with the University leadership to pursue strategic goals for WMU, I know we will deliver initiatives that have a positive impact on the college, in the community and in the business world at large.”

Deshpande earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Bombay, a post-graduate diploma from Xavier Labor Relations Institute and a doctoral degree from the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business. He began his professional career as a personnel officer in private industry before pursuing his academic career as a teaching and research assistant at Iowa.

Deshpande’s tenure at WMU has included such accomplishments as helping to create a human resource management major and leading the college’s first strategic planning process. As associate dean, he was involved in revision of the college’s MBA program, was instrumental in the introduction of a university-wide entrepreneurship minor and was responsible for maintaining the college’s accreditation through AACSB—the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. The Haworth College of Business is among a group of fewer than five percent of business schools worldwide accredited at both the undergraduate and graduate levels by AACSB International.

During his years at WMU, Deshpande spent a summer serving as a visiting professor at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and another summer as an exchange professor at Japan’s Nihon University.

A member of the Society for Human Resource Management, the Academy of Management, and the International Association of Business and Society, Deshpande has been active over the years in presenting his research at conferences and symposia for those organizations and others. His research has been supported by such entities as Target Inc., the Government of Canada and the Center for International Business Education and Research.