RAJA THIRU/Arizona Daily Wildcat Mark Zupan has been dean of the Eller College of Business and Public Administration since 1997. He is leaving the college on Jan. 1 to take on a new position at the University of Rochester in New York.

Zupan leaves UA after 6-year stint

Awards and UA memorabilia crowd Mark Zupan's office, the evidence of six years of service to the UA. Next semester, all of those reminders will be cleared away.

On Jan. 1, Zupan, who has been the dean of the Eller College of Business and Public Administration since 1997, will assume his new position as dean of the William E. Simon School of Business Administration at the University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y.

Zupan's departure from Eller marks the end of a long stint as dean, wherein he undertook a massive, $100 million fund-raising campaign, worked to bring in more faculty, and implemented a screening process for Eller applicants.

With Zupan's fund-raising efforts - including numerous trips to visit potential donors in Phoenix and hundreds of breakfasts, luncheons and dinner parties with potentially generous alumni - the multi-million dollar goal is close to being met.

While many university programs suffered from massive budget cuts, Zupan implemented a $500 undergraduate program fee to bring in several new faculty and allow for the accreditation of certain Eller programs. All of these programs, Zupan said, have contributed to a better education for every business student.

"The students have been a joy to work with. We get very good students from around the world," said Zupan, who also noted that Eller's standing as the 14th ranked business school in the nation requires that every student get an above average education.

Though his duties have kept him busy, Zupan still makes time to answer student e-mails, handwrite personal notes and attend numerous student functions. Students who have worked closely with Zupan say that while he is constantly looking for ways to improve the college, he is always willing to listen to student concerns.

Jenny Rimsza, a business and economics senior, said that she will remember how Zupan would often cut interesting clips out of the newspaper, write an accompanying note and send it to her.

"He knows how to empower and encourage students. He is extremely committed to our success, and knows what it means to truly care about others," she said.

The dean's work building bridges between students and staff has helped to strengthen the entire Eller community, Rimsza said.

"He has totally united the community at the Eller college with the help of the Eller undergraduate office and Eller students alike. I have traveled to other top business programs around the U.S., through funding from the Eller college. And I can honestly say that the relationship that our students have with faculty and staff are few and far between," she said. "The simple fact that he actually teaches a course is completely uncharacteristic of a dean. Other schools have never heard of such a thing."

During the past several years, Zupan has taught a class on improving the university. In the class, students compete to form the best plan.

Those who have taken classes taught by the dean say that Zupan's work in the classroom has prompted them to see education in an entirely new way.

"My experience with the dean has been phenomenal and one that I will never forget," said Raza Abbas, a management information systems senior.

Abbas, who took several university management classes taught by Zupan, said that the dean became his role model in the Eller college.

"Being an international student from Pakistan, I was highly encouraged that Dean Zupan valued and appreciated diversity in the college of business. He encouraged international students to come forward and to make an impact at the Eller college," Abbas said.

Rimsza said that Zupan's unprecedented work for the school will allow his successor to continue to make improvements.

"He has helped the college plan and strategize far in to our future, and in doing so he has created a platform for the college to continue to improve in our rankings long after he has gone," Rimza said.

President Peter Likins, who took on the UA presidency in the same year as Zupan was selected as dean, said that finding someone to fill the dean's shoes will be difficult.

"Mark has provided very exciting leadership to the Eller College for all of my years in this presidency and I will miss him very much," Likins said. "He has a quick mind, an engaging personality an entrepreneurial spirit. These are important qualities in a business college dean and finding a worthy successor will be a major challenge."

Andrew Collins, president of the Eller College Student Council, who is on the committee to choose a new college dean, said that he would vote for someone who has qualities similar to those possessed by Zupan.

"I have never felt that he thought he was above any one else. He has always gone out of his way to take time for students. Any time we have ever asked him to speak to the council or at an event, he has responded quickly and enthusiastically," Collins said. "I expect the new dean to have some of the same qualities that Dean Zupan has, such as approachability, friendliness and care for students. We need a dean that is ready to come here ready and running, but also doesn't forget that the students are his or her number one priority."

Zupan, who did undergraduate work at Harvard University and earned his doctorate in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, taught at the University of Southern California's School of Business Administration and served as associate dean of their master's programs prior to coming to the UA. In a recent University of Rochester press release, school provost Charles Phelps said that the administration is excited to have Zupan as an addition to the faculty.

"We believe that his academic career to date, most notably his work as dean at the University of Arizona, will serve him well in leading the Simon School," Phelps said. "I should add that Mark emerged from a pool of candidates that was as deep and strong as any I've seen during a search here at the university."

Ken Smith, an economics professor, will serve as an interim dean until a full-time replacement can be found.