Dean's departure sparks search for new head of business college

Topic: Miller College of Business

February 28, 2007

Lynne Richardson, dean of Ball State's Miller College of Business, has announced she is leaving that position to accept a similar one at Mississippi State University.

Ball State Provost Terry King said a national search will begin immediately to locate a successor for Richardson, whose accomplishments as dean include the creation of a series of advisory boards, a significant increase in donations to the college, the establishment of the Advanced Professionalism Certificate for students and the establishment of a popular business alumnus magazine.

"As all astute business people know, the cost of working with talented people is sometimes losing talented people," observed Ball State President Jo Ann M. Gora on Richardson's pending departure. "The Miller College of Business has prospered during Dr. Richardson's time as dean and will certainly feel her loss. Though, along with many of her colleagues, I'm also pleased for Lynne that she'll be able to pursue new professional opportunities and challenges on a campus in her native South."

Dean of Miller College of Business and professor of marketing since July 2001, Richardson received her undergraduate degree in marketing from the University of Montevallo (Alabama) and an MBA from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) before completing her doctorate in marketing at the University of Alabama in 1989. Prior to her appointment at Ball State, Richardson served as associate dean for undergraduate programs and external relations with the UAB School of Business.

During her tenure at Ball State, the university's undergraduate business curriculum earned national recognition for being among the best of those surveyed annually by U.S.News & World Report. The widely circulated rankings also place Ball State's undergraduate entrepreneurship track among the top 10 of all such programs in the country.

"Ball State has, under Lynne's leadership, gained significant momentum in the Miller College of Business," King said. "Of course our wish is to maintain that positive direction and, whenever and wherever possible, to build on our record of preparing graduates ready to help communities and businesses address and solve real-world problems.

"Always it is with some regret that we note a valuable colleague leaving Ball State," King added. "But, I want to assure our many alumni and friends — both in and out of the Miller College of Business — that we will be moving quickly to look for someone capable of advancing our business programs toward even greater levels of success."