Dean of the Business School

University of Colorado Denver; Denver (CO); On-site; USD 260,000 - 320,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Colorado Denver invites applications for the Dean of the Business School, a senior leadership role reporting to the Provost. The Dean will oversee academic programs, budget, partnerships, and advancement, driving innovation and inclusive excellence in CU Denver’s urban setting.

Ideal candidates will have a terminal degree, a track record in fundraising and partnerships, and experience leading at a research university or business school to advance enrollment, retention, and

Qualifications

• Earned terminal degree in a discipline relevant to the Business School's programs.
• Experience leading at a research university or business school.
• Proven ability to secure resources through fundraising and external partnerships.
• Experience building partnerships with industry, government, nonprofit, and community organizations.
• Demonstrated leadership in complex organizations and strategic planning.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement a strategic vision for CU Denver Business School aligned with the university's plan.
• Advance academic excellence, research, and entrepreneurship while maintaining AACSB standards.
• Lead student success initiatives, internships, and experiential learning partnerships.
• Strengthen partnerships with business, government, and community organizations and lead fundraising.
• Oversee budget, personnel, facilities, and resources with a focus on sustainability and inclusion.

Skills

Leadership

Fundraising

Strategic planning

Partnership building

Diversity & inclusion

Education

Terminal degree in business or related field

Job description

The University of Colorado Denver seeks a Dean of the Business School
Click here to view position profile: https://summitsearchsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/CU_Denver_Business_Dean_Profile.pdf
Location: Denver, Colorado

The Position:

The Dean of the Business School, reporting to the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, is responsible for serving as the chief academic officer of the school with full responsibility for its academic programs and curricula, the school’s budget, outreach and engagement with the business community, and advancement activities. In collaboration with the faculty, the Dean will provide intellectual leadership and a strong commitment to the school’s undergraduate and graduate programs. The Dean is expected to increase the school’s resource base by leading fundraising activities for the school, in partnership with an advancement officer. The Dean will also: strengthen engagement of and collaborations with industry and business partners; increase the amount and visibility of scholarship (research/creative work) activity of the faculty; work to promote transformation, innovation and entrepreneurial activities that will prepare the school well for the future; lead the development of strategies to increase enrollments, improve retention and enhance the student experience including internships and other experiential learning activities; foster a climate that demonstrates a commitment to diversity and inclusion; develop a strong alumni network in conjunction with an enhanced focus on job placement; and demonstrate a strong commitment to the university’s urban location while exploring opportunities to engage across Colorado and around the globe.

Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership and Vision

• Develop and implement a strategic vision for the Business School that aligns with the university's refreshed strategic plan and reflects the opportunities of a leading urban research university.
• Foster a culture of innovation, adaptability, and continuous improvement in response to emerging trends in business, technology, workforce development, and higher education.
• Partner with faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community stakeholders to identify priorities and achieve measurable outcomes.
• Collaborate with the Provost, Deans, and campus leaders to advance institution-wide goals and initiatives.
• Serve as the chief advocate and ambassador for the Business School locally, statewide, nationally, and globally.

Academic Excellence, Research, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship

• Provide strategic and intellectual leadership for undergraduate, graduate, executive, and professional education programs.
• Support faculty excellence in teaching, research, creative work, and community-engaged scholarship.
• Increase the visibility, impact, and external funding of faculty scholarship and research.
• Promote interdisciplinary collaboration and partnerships that address complex business and societal challenges.
• Strengthen innovation, entrepreneurship, and experiential learning throughout the curriculum and co-curricular experience.
• Ensure successful maintenance and continuous improvement of AACSB accreditation and academic quality standards.
• Position the school as a leader in emerging areas such as artificial intelligence, data analytics, cybersecurity, digital transformation, sustainability, and entrepreneurial innovation.

Student Success and Career Outcomes

• Lead strategies that increase enrollment, persistence, retention, graduation, and post-graduation success.
• Enhance the student experience through high-impact practices, experiential learning, internships, applied projects, and global learning opportunities.
• Strengthen pathways that support student achievement and social mobility.
• Expand partnerships that create employment opportunities, career preparation, and professional mentorship.
• Foster an inclusive learning environment where all students can thrive and achieve their educational goals.
• Utilize data-informed decisions to support enrollment management, student success, and program effectiveness.

Partnerships, Advancement, and External Engagement

• Build and strengthen strategic partnerships with business, industry, government, nonprofit, and community organizations.
• Expand collaborations that support internships, workforce development, sponsored research, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
• Lead fundraising efforts in partnership with University Advancement to secure philanthropic support and strategic investments.
• Engage alumni as ambassadors, mentors, advisors, employers, and donors.
• Enhance the visibility and reputation of the Business School through thought leadership and engagement with external stakeholders.
• Leverage the university's urban location to create meaningful regional, statewide, national, and global partnerships.

Organizational, Financial, and People Leadership

• Oversee the school's budget, personnel, facilities, and resources to ensure long-term fiscal sustainability.
• Recruit, retain, develop, and support outstanding faculty and staff.
• Support department chairs and program directors in achieving academic and strategic goals.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, trust, shared governance, mutual respect, and shared purpose across faculty, staff, students, and programs.
• Promote excellence through clear expectations, assessment, and continuous improvement.
• Advance a welcoming and inclusive environment that values diverse perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds.
• Meet established goals and performance expectations while ensuring responsible stewardship of university resources.

Qualifications:

Minimum

• Earned terminal degree in a discipline relevant to the Business School's academic programs.
• Record of transformative leadership demonstrating the ability to develop and execute strategic priorities, lead organizational change, and achieve measurable results.
• Evidence of success building partnerships with industry, government, nonprofit, and community organizations.
• Demonstrated ability to secure resources through fundraising, external partnerships, sponsored programs, or other revenue-generating activities.
• Proven ability to lead collaboratively and effectively in complex organizations.

Preferred

• Successful senior leadership experience at a research university, business school, or comparable complex organization.
• Demonstrated record of advancing innovation, entrepreneurship, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
• Record of success fostering faculty research and publishing in premier, discipline-relevant venues.
• Experience leading initiatives that improve student success, enrollment growth, retention, and career outcomes.
• Record of advancing inclusive excellence and fostering environments where diverse communities thrive.
• Understanding of the evolving landscape of business education, including technology-enabled learning, AI, workforce partnerships, and emerging business disciplines.
• Experience with strategic planning, accreditation, and organizational transformation.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• A strong record of thought leadership and influence in business; credibility with business and government leaders as an innovator in business practice and education; and strong mentorship.
• Exceptional visionary and strategic thinking and leadership skills.
• A record of successful engagement with the business community.
• Excellence in leading, evaluating, recruiting and analyzing.
• Demonstrated management and administrative ability.
• Effectiveness as a fundraiser, networker, and strategic alliance-builder.
• A commitment to diversity and inclusion.
• Successful experience and/or strong potential for success building and/or enhancing strong programs of corporate sponsorships, funded research, and other mission-aligned revenue generation.
• Success in establishing mutually beneficial relationships with external constituencies such as, but not limited to, alumni, government, and accrediting bodies.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• The ability to build and work with teams up and across the organization.
• Demonstrable accomplishments in working with business-related constituencies that will bridge to a university setting.
• A strong record demonstrating a broad working knowledge of innovation and accomplishment, entrepreneurship and technology application in business at the local, state, national, and international levels.
• Experience with CRM systems and data-driven decision making that will translate to enrollment and marketing.
• Ability to lead the development of strategies to increase enrollments, improve retention and enhance the student experience including internships and experiential learning activities.

About the Business School:

For more than 30 years, CU Denver Business School has been developing leaders capable of changing the business world for the better.

Located in the heart of downtown Denver, and with 300+ strong business partnerships across Colorado, students are provided direct access and exposure to top firms and the Denver business community through guest speakers, projects, and internships down the street from its building in the central business district.

AACSB Accreditation

The Business School at the University of Colorado Denver has sustained AACSB accreditation at both undergraduate and graduate levels for more than 30 years. Less than 6% of the world's 13,000 business programs have earned AACSB Accreditation. The Business School has also met the 15 additional standards required to earn a special Accounting accreditation held by only 195 schools of business.

A Hub for Innovation, Cutting-Edge Research and Student Success

• The Business School created and launched the first Executive MBA in Aviation in the United States.
• The First-Generation and Multicultural Business Program (FaM), an initiative unique to CU Denver’s Business School, provides scholarships, corporate mentorship, executive coaching and more. The program has established a talent pipeline for the companies supporting it and has become a model for student success.
• Launched in fall 2023, the CU Denver Business School’s Empowering Women in Business (EWiB) program equips women students with the skills to be an effective leader to provide the understanding of gender obstacles and ways to effectively overcome them. Annual symposiums feature renowned public officials and industry leaders.
• The Health Administration Research Consortium (HARC), housed at the Business School, is focused on thought leadership in health administration and business research, relevant to health systems, health and diversity, digital and intelligent health, and health leadership.
• The school’s Celebration of Success raises hundreds of thousands of dollars for student scholarships, showcases strong partnerships with industry and community leaders and offers students access to nationally recognized executives.

Vision

To build a stronger Denver and a better world.

Mission

Through instructional and research excellence we develop inclusive, ethical, and innovative leaders who will advance economic and social vitality.

Values

• Excellence—We are dedicated to exceptional teaching, research, and service.
• Accountable—We must meet our obligations and be accountable to others.
• Inclusiveness and Diversity—We have an inclusive culture and welcome diversity.
• Respect and Integrity—We value what others offer and act with honesty and mutual trust.
• Engaged—We foster and strengthen partnerships with our constituencies that support productive exchanges of knowledge and skills to the benefit of our students, faculty and business community.
• Knowledge and Innovation—We are passionate about advancing and disseminating business knowledge through our research and teaching and promoting innovation in our programs and services.

About the University of Colorado Denver:

The University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver) is one of the nation’s top public urban research universities. Its impact—on individuals, on Colorado and on the world—is profound, conducting game-changing research and helping students learn with purpose.

CU Denver educates nearly 14,000 students at its comprehensive downtown campus while fostering an inclusionary, growth-focused campus vision that aims to provide the resources for all students to grow professionally and personally, with more than 125 in-demand, top-ranked bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs. Over 2,000 faculty and staff members across seven schools and colleges are happy to call CU Denver their home campus. Leading faculty inspire and work alongside students to solve complex challenges through boundary-breaking innovation, impactful research and creative work. In 2025, eighteen CU Denver faculty were ranked among the most cited researchers in the world.

As part of the state’s largest university system, CU Denver is a major contributor to the Colorado economy, with an annual statewide economic impact of $665 million.

A Refreshed Strategic Plan

The University of Colorado’s Strategic Plan 2030 initially launched in 2021 and expresses CU Denver's vision to make education work for all. Fast-changing dynamics in education, workforce, demographics, and technology warranted refinements so that CU Denver meets its public service obligation—to students, to communities, and to Colorado moving forward. So in February 2026, CU Denver reintroduced the strategic plan to the community, with an updated set of core principles, as well as a set of measures to be used to gauge its success going forward.

• Learner Success
  Make education work for all through access, equity, opportunity, and meaningful outcomes.
• Discovery and Impact
  Prioritize discovery and innovation through research and creative works that address community needs and contribute to the public good.
• Organizational Excellence and Innovation
  Cultivate a campuswide innovation ecosystem that enhances our excellence, efficiency, resiliency, and ability to achieve goals in support of our students and employees.
• Belonging and Meaningful Work
  Foster an inclusive community where belonging, meaningful work, and public service support the flourishing of all.

Leadership

Kenith T. Christensen, PhD, was appointed to serve as chancellor of the University of Colorado Denver in February 2025. As chancellor, Christensen is focused on advancing the public service obligation of the institution, one grounded in academic excellence, workforce development, community engagement, and economic impact. Christensen’s career-long focus on supporting the success of students, regardless of background or experiences, parallels that of CU Denver. Learn more here.

Karen Marrongelle, PhD

Karen Marrongelle, PhD, is the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and a Professor of Mathematics. As Provost, she provides leadership for academic planning and research advancement, working in collaboration with the deans of CU Denver’s schools and colleges to ensure academic excellence, promote robust student outcomes, and support CU Denver’s mission as a leading public urban research university. Learn more here.

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range for this position has been established at $260,000 to $320,000. For candidates considering a move, relocation assistance may be available. Additional information about benefits may be found on CU Denver’s HR page.

CU is an Equal Opportunity Employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment. CU is committed to creating a workplace where all individuals are treated with respect and dignity, and we encourage individuals from all backgrounds to apply, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.

The University will provide reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities throughout the employment application process. To request an accommodation pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act, please contact the Human Resources ADA Coordinator at [e-mail].