From the President

How quickly 12 months can go by. My first year as the university’s eighth president has affirmed exactly what I thought when I arrived on campus last summer: Bentley is quite a special place. 

The 2018-2019 academic year has come to an end, but it will be remembered as a pivotal time when this community came together to plan for what comes next. A nine-month strategic planning process engaged faculty, staff, students, alumni and corporate recruiters in designing Bentley’s future. Through workshops and forums, we took a hard look at the university’s strengths and discussed how to build on its longstanding record of success. This important work will spur exciting initiatives across campus in the months and years to come.    

This process has already yielded some impressive results. Just before wrapping up the school year, we announced the launch of the Robert P. and Kalliope Badavas Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning, made possible by a generous gift from our outgoing chair of the board, Bob Badavas, and his wife, Kally. The center will be a key resource for faculty as they work to keep Bentley ahead of the curve in delivering a top-quality business education.

Leading the Badavas Center’s efforts as executive director will be Dr. Suzanne Dove, an experienced educator with a diverse background in higher education in the U.S. and abroad. This includes more than 12 years at the Wisconsin School of Business at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she spearheaded educational innovation initiatives with a focus on undergraduate business programs.

In June, we were excited to welcome Josh Brand as vice president for external relations — a new position identified through strategic planning. Josh will lead our multifaceted corporate relations effort, ensuring that external partners realize a true, mutually beneficial relationship with our university. 

New additions to Bentley, such as Suzanne and Josh, will help our university continue building toward an even brighter second century. The next decade at Bentley will be its most important yet, and I believe we are on the right path. As the stories in this issue of Bentley Magazine suggest, the energy on campus is high. As I begin my second year, I can’t wait to see what comes next.