Dr. Joseph B. Mazzola has been named dean of The Belk College of Business at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Later this summer, he will join one of the Carolinas' largest business programs, with more than 2,500 undergraduate students, 500 graduate students and 84 full-time faculty members.
Mazzola, a professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University, will start in his new position on July 1. His appointment was approved on April 11 by the UNC Charlotte Board of Trustees.
“Joe Mazzola brings to the Belk College outstanding academic credentials, a collaborative leadership style, exciting new ideas, and a keen understanding of the needs of the college as it continues on its trajectory of growth,” said UNC Charlotte Provost Joan Lorden.
“He impressed everyone on campus with his depth of knowledge about the college and the university and his commitment to UNC Charlotte’s mission to provide responsive educational and research programs that are deeply engaged with our community and the region,” she said.
One of Mazzola’s first tasks will be to start the process of moving some graduate programs into the new Center City Building in downtown Charlotte, which is scheduled to open in 2010.
At Georgetown, Mazzola previously served as Executive Dean of Faculty and Senior Associate Dean. He also has published extensively. Prior to joining the faculty at Georgetown, he taught at Duke University, UNC Chapel Hill and Wake Forest University.
For his part, Mazzola said he is looking forward to the challenges.
“Both the university and the city of Charlotte are experiencing phenomenal growth – certainly in terms of size, but also in terms of excellence and importance to the state, national, and global economies,” he said.
Mazzola said one of his first priorities will be to strengthen and extend the college’s ties to the Charlotte business community.
“The mutual partnerships among the Belk College, UNC Charlotte, and the business community provide the basis upon which we will continue to build excellence and establish innovative approaches to undergraduate, graduate, and professional business education,” he said.
Mazzola’s appointment fills a void left by the departure of former Dean Claude Lilly, who stepped down last June to accept the position of dean of the College of Business and Behavioral Sciences at Clemson University.
Steven Ott, the John Crosland Sr. Distinguished Professor of Real Estate and Development at UNC Charlotte, had served as interim dean while a national search was conducted for a permanent dean.
Robert Wilhelm, executive director of the Charlotte Research Institute at UNC Charlotte and chairman of the search committee, said Mazzola has the right skills to connect the business school with the region’s entrepreneurial community.
“Joe has the experience and vision to take the Belk College of Business to an even higher level of reputation and results,” Wilhelm said. “I will look forward to working with him to connect UNC Charlotte more strongly with the business community.
“It speaks well of UNC Charlotte and the business community that we are able to attract such an eminent scholar and engaging leader.”