Marshall University Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Gayle Ormiston today announced that following a national search, Dr. Avinandan “Avi” Mukherjee has been appointed dean of the university’s Lewis College of Business.
Mukherjee, who is currently the dean of the College of Business and professor of marketing and international business at Clayton State University in Atlanta, will assume his new position July 1.
“I am delighted to welcome Dr. Mukherjee to Marshall,” said Ormiston. “He emerged as the clear choice during the search process and I am confident he will take the Lewis College of Business to new heights.”
As dean at Clayton State, Mukherjee has overseen robust growth in enrollment and endowments; the creation of a number of new international partnerships; and successful five-year Maintenance of Accreditation by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International. He also established a new administrative structure; seven new academic programs, including M.B.A. concentrations in human resource leadership and sports and entertainment management, as well as executive development programs and post-MBA certificates.
He also has a uniquely international academic and professional background, having studied in four countries and taught in 10. He has published a book and more than 100 scholarly articles in leading peer-reviewed journals. His published research has been cited more than 3,000 times. He also is the founding editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing published by Emerald. He has served on corporate and chamber boards, directed executive development programs and consulted with companies in the U.S., U.K., Denmark, India, Bangladesh, Singapore and Malaysia.
Ormiston said Mukherjee’s international background and experience will be beneficial to the college and will add an extra dimension to Marshall’s ability to recruit international students and faculty members.
Mukherjee said, “I am honored and delighted to be selected as dean of the Lewis College of Business, and am truly excited about this new leadership opportunity. What especially attracted me to Marshall is the strong legacy, the visionary leadership of President [Jerome] Gilbert, successful alumni, a symbiotic town-gown relationship and the ‘We Are Marshall’ school spirit.
“Marshall and its college of business have a great community of dedicated faculty and staff who consistently add value to their students’ learning experience, personal development and career preparedness. The college will continue to grow with innovative high-demand programs, engaged learning initiatives and enhanced regional and global partnerships. It is well positioned to prepare tomorrow’s business leaders for West Virginia and the world.”
Prior to serving as dean at Clayton State, Mukherjee was chairman of the marketing department in the School of Business at Montclair State University in New Jersey.
He has been a visiting faculty at Rutgers Business School, New Jersey Institute of Technology, INSEAD, Copenhagen Business School, ESC Toulouse (now Toulouse Business School) and Kathmandu University, among others. He earned his Ph.D. in marketing at the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad, India, which is consistently ranked among the top 100 business schools in the world. Part of his doctoral work was conducted at the ESSEC Business School in Paris and his research was affiliated with the International Motor Vehicle Program of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management. He has a B.S. from Jadavpur University, also in India.
