Williams Named Dean of the School of Business and Economics

Dr. Joseph Williams, a Microsoft executive and former professor at Colorado State University, has been named the dean of Seattle Pacific University’s School of Business and Economics (SBE). He succeeds Dr. Jeffrey Van Duzer, who was named provost at SPU in November 2012 after serving 11 years as dean of the School of Business and Economics.

“We are very excited to see how Dr. Williams will lead the School of Business and Economics and its signature approach as ‘business as service’ into the future,” says Seattle Pacific University President Daniel J. Martin. “His deep understanding of technology, faith, academics, and business make him ideally suited to help SBE and all of SPU find its way and thrive in the rapidly changing landscape of higher education.”

Dr. Williams brings a blend of academic and business experience to his new position at SPU. Since 1999, he has held various positions at Sun Microsystems and at Microsoft. He is currently managing director of the "’software as a service’ partner" channel, managing 10,000 partners in Microsoft's SaaS cloud channel business. He has also regularly served as a consultant on IT issues with CEOs and CIOs in Fortune 100 companies.

Prior to his work in industry, Dr. Williams spent 10 years as an associate professor of computer information systems in the College of Business at Colorado State University. He has also served on the faculty of the University of Montana, New Mexico State University, and Bucknell University. He is the author of several books, and has published a number of articles in academic journals and the popular press.

Williams earned his B.A. from the University of California-Berkeley, his M.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and both his M.B.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Texas-Austin.

He will begin his new position at SPU on July 1, 2013.

Posted: Thursday, June 20, 2013