The Robinson College of Business seeks an exceptional leader and well-established business scholar to serve as the next Academic Director of its Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) Program. The Academic Director will articulate a vision and strategy for advancing Robinson’s position as an international leader in graduating practitioner-researchers and publishing engaged business scholarship. The Academic Director will champion the DBA Program’s mission; inspire students, alums, faculty, and staff to enhance Robinson’s transformative contributions to innovation in business and society; and broaden the college’s impact on global, national, and local communities.

The ideal candidate will be an accomplished, energetic, and collaborative leader and researcher who will champion the DBA Program’s commitment to excellence, engage with the community, and lead with passion aligned with the college’s core values of Impact, Community, Curiosity, Openness, and Inclusiveness. Candidates should have strong skills in doctoral supervision and program management, experience in executive education and industry collaboration, as well as the ability to engage students, alumni, faculty, and staff to create and implement a strategic vision. They will have an strong record of publications in leading scholarly and practice outlets. A doctoral or terminal degree in a business discipline or a related field and scholarly achievement commensurate with a tenured appointment at the rank of professor is preferred. Candidates presenting with alternative credentials and excellent leadership capabilities will also be considered.

ABOUT THE DBA PROGRAM

The successful applicant will join a business school whose faculty and staff are committed to innovative teaching; diverse, equitable, and inclusive excellence; and interdisciplinary research collaboration. Robinson’s faculty publish in premier journals, engage in program innovations, and network with business stakeholders. The DBA program was launched as one of the first of its kind in the United States in 2009 and has since graduated 175 DBAs. The program is part of the research organization at Robinson, with its own staff, and is located at the college’s executive education center in the vibrant business district of Buckhead.

The DBA is organized as a three-year, cohort-based program with eight three-day (Thursday to Saturday) residencies per year. Students are accomplished business professionals with a relevant master's degree and more than seven years of high-level business experience. The goal is to develop students into practitioner-researchers, advance their careers in industry, and position them as bridge builders between academia and industry. Although students continue their professional careers while participating in the program, they are expected to work on research and other program activities 25-30 hours per week for 52 weeks over three years.

The Academic Director will teach and advise students and work closely with the DBA Director and staff to manage and continuously renew the DBA program, recruit students and facilitate their journey through the program, engage faculty to teach and advise in the program, and to cultivate collaboration with alumni, other researchers, business stakeholders, and the international DBA community. The Academic Director will also hold an academic faculty appointment in one of Robinson’s academic units.

The DBA program enjoys close collaboration with the business community, with its alumni, and with the international community of DBA programs. The philosophy of the program is engaged scholarship, which is well aligned with Robinson’s vision to reimagining innovation for all. As part of the DBA program, the Academic Director will work with the DBA Director and staff to manage and grow the Center for Engaged Business Research as a network collaboration in which graduates can work with faculty as research associates after graduation. The Academic Director will also play an active role in The Executive DBA Council, an international organization of accredited business schools with DBA programs that cultivates collaboration between DBA students, alumni, faculty, and staff, centered around the annual international Engaged Management Scholarship conference.

OPPORTUNITIES AND EXPECTATIONS FOR LEADERSHIP

The Academic Director of Robinson’s DBA program will provide strategic leadership and be responsible for advancing its education, research, and networking. The Academic Director will be a key member of the college’s academic leadership team and an important partner to the dean on strategic institutional initiatives. The Academic Director will help position the college to seize opportunities for collaboration in research and doctoral education, inspire the practitioner-researcher community with the vision and promise of the DBA Program, and shape the future of the Robinson College of Business and its unique pivotal role in providing diverse talent that is ready to lead and innovate in business and society.

Specifically, the Academic Director will:

• Articulate a vision and strategy for advancing Robinson’s position as international leader in graduating practitioner-researchers. Build upon the DBA Program’s unique advantages as part of a university with a world-class research profile and an innovation agenda initiated under the college’s previous strategic plan. Exploit complementarities with ongoing strategic initiatives in the college related to research and business partners. Continue to advance Robinson as a global leader in graduating business professionals from all backgrounds who are prepared to apply engaged scholarship to solve business and societal problems, develop pioneering practices, and lead innovative organizations. • Further enhance excellence in doctoral teaching and research towards practitioner-research practices. Create and implement curricular and pedagogical innovation for developing accomplished business professionals into practitioner-researchers, inspire students, alumni and faculty to contribute high-impact engaged business scholarship, and facilitate continued research collaboration between DBA alumni and Robinson faculty and doctoral students.

• Model authentic leadership in advancing institutional diversity, equity, and inclusion. Cultivate an inclusive community and environment of trust and transparency where all students, alumni, faculty, and staff are respected, supported, and empowered. Promote the essential roles that diversity, equity, and inclusion play in Robinson’s mission and how they extend to its relationships with the communities it serves.

• Enhance development of a student body of accomplished business professionals in engaged scholarship. Invest in recruiting and retaining an outstanding and diverse student body who distinguishes the DBA Program and strengthens the Robinson community. Inspire the ongoing pursuit of excellence in engaged scholarship, provide opportunities for professional growth and advancement, and invest in the mentorship and success of all students and alumni, particularly those from underrepresented groups. Use the resources of Robinson and the Program to grow and sustain a diverse community of engaged business scholars and meet the market need for this talent across the country and world.

• Leverage faculty to practicing interdisciplinary, engaged business scholarship in collaboration with DBA students and alumni. Provide leadership to engage Robinson faculty to serve as lecturers and supervisors in the DBA Program. Cultivate collaboration patterns between faculty and DBA students and alumni that advance interdisciplinary, engaged business scholarship at Robinson to the benefit of the business community and society at large.

• Build community partnerships and other external relationships. Establish and strengthen partnerships with professional associations, public and private businesses, and others to enhance opportunities for students and alumni and to maximize the impact of practitioner-researchers and engaged scholarship locally, nationally, and globally.

ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT

GSU is a leading urban research university located in the heart of Atlanta. It is the largest university in Georgia with 54,000 students and continues to lead the state and nation in graduating economically and racially diverse students on-time and at a reasonable cost. Pell-eligible students, many of whom are first-generation college students, currently represent 58% of GSU’s undergraduate student population, ranking first among all national universities in the percent of Pell students that it enrolls. Additionally, GSU is ranked as the third most innovative university in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. GSU has earned national and international recognition for its data-oriented approach to student support, retention, and success.

With more than 8,000 students and 170 faculty members, Robinson is among the ten largest accredited business schools in the United States with a student body that is one of the most diverse in the country. Fifty-six percent of RCB undergraduates are under-represented minorities. According to the most recent edition of Diverse Issues in Education, Robinson ranks #1 conferring bachelor’s degrees in finance and in marketing to Black students. The School of Accountancy ranks #2 conferring bachelor’s degrees in accounting to Black students and #15 to under-represented minorities.

The college is highly ranked in many areas. Robinson’s flagship Part-time MBA program is ranked among the best by Bloomberg Businessweek and U.S. News & World Report, and its Executive MBA is considered by Financial Times to be among the top 20 programs in the United States and one of the world’s premier programs.

Robinson’s size and legacy of excellence make it one of the most influential business schools in the country. According to Standard & Poor’s, more Georgia executives hold graduate degrees from Robinson and Georgia State than any other college or university in the country. The college’s location in the middle of Atlanta provides easy access to 16 Fortune 500 companies and 30 Fortune 1000 companies headquartered in the Atlanta metropolitan area, offering excellent opportunities for research, job placement, and fundraising. Benefitting from both broad and deep disciplinary expertise and recent investments in computer science, emerging digital technologies, and innovation, Robinson is rapidly pursuing idea development with students, alumni, faculty, and strategic partners working alongside one another to produce the next generation of diverse innovators and leaders who are changing the face of business.

Atlanta’s reputation as the economic capital of the Southeast is well established, and the region is now rapidly developing as a tech hub. Venture capitalist, Leura Craig, recently said, “We think that the Southeast and especially Atlanta has the opportunity to become a key hub for tech startups in the next five years. It feels a lot like Los Angeles five years ago. COVID dramatically accelerated the flight from California and New York and the Southeast’s tech scene is going to be a huge winner as a result of this migration.” The metropolitan area is vibrant, quickly growing, and has an abundance of in-town and suburban living options, many boasting highly ranked public schools. RCB’s Buckhead Executive Center is located steps from a MARTA hub, making GSU an easy commute from many neighborhoods and surrounding communities as well as Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, the primary international airport serving the Southeast

FURTHER INFORMATION AND APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Further information about RCB and the DBA Program may be found online at: https://robinson.gsu.edu/program/dba/

Applicants should apply online at www.Academicjobsonline.org and include a letter of interest, curriculum vitae, samples of current research, and at least three letters of recommendation. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Questions related to the position should be sent to Co-Chairperson of the Search Committee, Dr. Louis Grabowski, lgrabowski1@gsu.edu. The position is contingent upon final budget approval by the University.

Georgia State University is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against applicants due to race, ethnicity, gender, veteran status, or on the basis of disability or any other federal, state, or local protected class. As a campus with a diverse student body, the university encourages applications from women, minorities, and individuals with a history of mentoring students from under-represented groups.