Professor Samuel Michael “Mike” Turrentine has been chosen dean of West Liberty University’s Gary E. West College of Business. He will begin the position on July 1, 2016, replacing Interim Dean Jean Bailey.
“The university is grateful to Jean for her service during the past few years as we sought a permanent dean, and after a lengthy search, it is with great pleasure I announce Mike Turrentine as our new dean of the College of Business. He was the unanimous pick of the hiring committee and I am confident that our students will be pleased,” said Dr. Stephen Greiner, WLU president.
“I am honored to be selected and look forward to the challenges ahead. Together with our highly qualified faculty, we will continue to deliver the best business education available in the region,” said Turrentine, who currently serves as a full-time professor of business law at the university.
“I see this as an opportunity to serve the university that I have really grown to love,” he said.
A native of Steubenville, Ohio, Professor Turrentine began his career at WLU in 1999, serving as a full-time adjunct. During his years as a Hilltopper, he has taught a variety of classes including “Business Law,” “Principles of Macroeconomics,” and “Management in Labor Relations.”
Turrentine earned his undergraduate degree in communications with a focus in management from Ohio University and worked for a time as public relations coordinator for the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County library system in Ohio.
He also earned an Ohio teaching certificate for grades 8-12 and was formerly a substitute teacher in Jefferson County, as well as coach for football and tennis at Steubenville High School.
He earned a law degree from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, in 1996 and then became a full time attorney in Steubenville, Ohio, prior to teaching at WLU. Turrentine still serves as an acting judge in the Steubenville Municipal Court system.
West Liberty University is a forward-looking, four-year public university steeped in a rich heritage as West Virginia’s oldest institution of higher education. Five colleges and a School of Professional Studies offer more than 60 majors and 30 programs that are nationally recognized or accredited. Graduate programs include the Master of Arts in Education, the Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies, the Master of Professional Studies, the Master of Science in Criminology and the online MBA degrees.
