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Lee Dahringer during his days as a Goizueta marketing professor. He is now dean of The Sellinger School of Business and Management, Loyola College in Maryland.
What ever happened to my favorite professor?
Lee Dahringer remembers fondly his time at Goizueta, where he taught international marketing and marketing management principles from 1980 until 1990. He particularly enjoyed mentoring students (when the opportunity arose) and helping some of them make life-changing decisions.
Why, then, did he leave teaching in 1990 for college administration? “As a professor, you work with individuals,” he explains, “but as a dean you can make a system-wide difference.” So after three years of directing an international MBA program at the Dutch university Nijenrode, he became a dean—first at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana; then at West Virginia University; and, for the past four years, at Sellinger School of Business and Management at Loyola College in Maryland. About 1,100 undergraduate and 1,000 graduate students attend Sellinger.
Given his interest in mentoring, it is not surprising that Dean Dahringer describes his role there in terms of supporting others. He eagerly embraces the challenge of ensuring that professors and students receive necessary resources, as well as encouraging faculty to grow professionally. “I really enjoy helping faculty members to realize their potential as researchers and teachers,” he asserts.
Being an effective communicator is a job requirement, Dahringer explains. He credits his background in marketing for helping to shape his communications skills.
His international experience has also stood him well. “International study is critical for our future leaders, particularly now,” he maintains. Business schools in the United States are recognizing this need and providing increased opportunities for their students to gain international perspectives.
This is only one change in business education that Dahringer applauds. A second is the strengthening of internship programs. “Business schools are making internships more structured and giving them an academic dimension,” he observes.
Yet another welcome development is the interest in service that schools are encouraging in their students. Everyone benefits when current or future leaders give back to their communities.
Business schools must constantly adapt to meet the changing needs of the business world. Today, says Dahringer, they must hone students’ analytical and communication skills, but they must also teach students how to make ethical decisions. “Schools should think about their responsibility to the broader society,” he maintains, “and more and more are doing that.”
—Christian Kirkpatrick