Bryant Gets New Dean of Business

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Rutgers' Cooper Joins Faculty in May

Bryant University announced the appointment of Michael R. Cooper as Dean of Bryant's College of Business effective this May.

Previously, Cooper was the dean of Rutgers Business School.

"I look forward to the vision Michael Cooper will bring to the University's College of Business," said Bryant's Vice President for Academic Affairs Jose-Marie Griffiths. "His distinguished record of success - not only in academia but as a senior executive in the corporate world - will help the University reach the ambitious strategic goals we have set for ourselves in the coming decade."

"Bryant University is on an exciting trajectory. I am honored to have been selected to lead the College of Business, and I look forward to working with Bryant's faculty, administrators, students and alumni to build upon the strong foundation that exists," Cooper said.

Cooper, who joined Rutgers Business School (RBS) as dean in May 2007, has 25 years of leadership experience in senior executive positions in international market research, marketing services, management consulting and technology companies.

As dean of RBS, Cooper managed faculty and programs across two main campuses (Newark and New Brunswick), three international campuses (Shanghai, Beijing and Singapore), and multiple satellite locations. He initiated new programs that increased the school's success in recruitment and placement of graduates. RBS is recognized as one of the top three business schools in the New York Tri-State Region, and is the highest-ranked business school in New Jersey.

Other hallmarks of Cooper's leadership at RBS include creation of the Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Center and the Ethics Leadership Institute, and development of corporate relationships with partners around the world.

From 1989 to 1999, Cooper served as chair, president and chief executive officer of Opinion Research Corporation (ORC), which he took public on the NASDAQ. Prior to ORC, he was president of Hay Research for Management for 10 years and senior partner of the Hay Group.

Cooper succeeds Jack Trifts, Ph.D., who stepped down from the post in June 2010 in order to return to teaching at Bryant. Carol DeMoranville, Ph.D., has served as interim dean. Upon Cooper's arrival, she will resume her responsibilities as professor of marketing.

U.S. News & World Report ranks Bryant No. 16 in the Universities - Master's (North) category, and the University is listed in Barron's Best Buys in College Education and in Princeton Review's Best 373 Colleges. BusinessWeek and Princeton Review consider the Graduate School of Business among the nation's best.