Written by: Guethshina Altena / Assistant Sports Director
On Feb. 8 Joanne Li, Ph.D., was appointed as the next dean of the University’s College of Business, effective May 8, 2017.
A search committee comprised of 12 individuals with representation from faculty, staff, human resources and students began the selection process in the summer of 2016.
Atilda Alvarado, the special assistant to the provost, witnessed the process of hiring a new dean for the College of Business.
“This whole selection process took about a year, really. Before summer, the provost selected the members for the search committee who reviews the applications.” Alvarado said.
First, the search committee detailed the dean’s job description and then reviewed a number of applications and resumes. They initially narrowed it down to 15 applicants according to Alvarado.
Provost and Executive Vice President Kenneth G. Furton worked closely with the search committee to select the top five applicants. They were then invited to visit the school and meet the employees and faculty.
Later on, the committee picked the top three most qualified to be reinvited to the University and meet with President Mark B. Rosenberg. Joanne Li was one of the three finalist who later earned her title as the newly appointed dean of the College of Business.
Li is the vice president of the Council of Chinese American Deans and the president and treasurer of the Mid-American Business Deans Association. When asked why she wanted to be the dean of the College of Business, Li’s answer was: “why not?”
“FIU has a great mission and I do believe that I will be able to participate and contribute to the FIU mission,” Li said. “The FIU College of Business provides me with a great opportunity to do things that are aligned with my personal mission of giving back to the Institution, giving back to the state of Florida, impacting a lot of students and being a very good support for faculty and staff over there.”
Li said that she will not suggest any changes at this point, but one of her short term plans as the dean of the College of Business is to get to know the people that she works with.
“I am gonna do my homework, so to speak. I am gonna visit and get to know my faculty, my staff, my students, our donors, businesses and community partners,” she said. “I am a relationship builder, I plan to know my players before making major decisions”
Li was an international student who grew up in an entrepreneurial family in one of the most metropolitan cities in the world, Hong Kong, which she says is a financial center in Asia.
“That actually nurtured my interest in business. I became a finance professor because I find finance to be very fascinating” she said. “My love for business is just natural; it’s probably in my DNA.”
Li believes that the FIU College of Business plays a very important role in Miami when it comes to developing and retaining talent.
“Part of our responsibility at the College of Business is to build a very strong workforce development program,” Li said. “Not only are we creating knowledge through scholarly works but we will be able to convert it back into the classroom.”
Li believes that the upcoming semester will be a good one because she plans to work to the best of her abilities to meet the needs of the student body, staff and faculty.
“Our acting Dean is a very, very good leader. He has done a tremendous job and I would like to continue that [success] to get on campus and know my people very well.” Li said.
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