New Dean Announced for School of Business

Published: December 04, 2017 | Author: Miles Anderson | Read Time: 2 minutes

After an extensive search, Mary Pearson has been chosen out of a very competitive national field to serve as the Dean of the School of Business at Southern Utah University.

Pearson has been serving as the Interim Dean of the School of Business at SUU since July of 2017. Prior to serving as Interim Dean, Pearson was the Interim Associate Dean and has been teaching in the accounting department for 18 years. Pearson has taught internationally for the last eight years at two of SUU’s partner schools in Austria.  

In addition to being a professor, Pearson has her own accounting firm where she works as a certified public accountant (CPA) with more than 250 clients across the United States. Pearson has been instrumental in expanding employer relations, developing international opportunities, increasing business scholarships, supporting entrepreneurship, redesigning promotional platforms, and creating new academic programs for students at Southern Utah University.

“Mary has a very aggressive agenda of expanding the School of Business's entrepreneurship efforts, implementing a strong data analytics element into the curriculum, and elevating the national profile of the school,” said Provost Brad Cook. “We are delighted to have Mary in this new position.”

Pearson has often stated that students are the best and most important part of her job and knows what it takes to be an impactful educator.

“I never thought it was possible to enjoy accounting until I took a class from Professor Pearson,” said Hailey Kinder, a senior marketing student. “If she can change how I feel about accounting, just imagine the changes she can make to help the business school be the best it can be.”  

Pearson’s breadth of experience in professional, ecclesiastical, and civic involvement have significantly impacted her ability to communicate and establish relationships with business owners and stakeholders in the region. Pearson has been actively involved in the community and currently serves as Chairwoman of the Planning and Zoning Commission. These experiences have contributed to the goals she has for the future of the business programs at SUU.

“As Dean of the School of Business, I want to increase placement opportunities for students by strengthening our employer relationships and creating pathways for students into Masters and Doctoral programs,” said Pearson.  “I am very excited to continue our efforts to expand entrepreneurship across all disciplines at Southern Utah University and throughout our region.  Our current initiatives developing academic degrees in data analytics will provide numerous opportunities for SUU students to impact businesses and societies around the world.”

The announcement of the new dean comes at an exciting time as construction of a brand new, state-of-the-art business building is already underway and expected to open its doors in the fall of 2018.

“We are thrilled to have a new building for our students to learn, study, collaborate, and explore all aspects of business,” said Pearson.

A portion of Pearson’s responsibilities will include overseeing each program in the School of Business: accounting, economics, finance, hotel resort and hospitality, management, marketing, military science, master of accountancy, and master of business administration degrees.  

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