Donald E. Gibson, Ph.D., interim dean of Fairfield University's Charles F. Dolan School of Business for nearly two years and a respected and popular faculty member for the past 12 years, has been named the new dean of the business school. His appointment follows an extensive national search.

"I look forward to leading the Dolan School of Business toward our goal of educating students to be ethical business leaders for a global future," said Dr. Gibson, professor of management and a leader in his field of organizational behavior research. "We have a strong faculty and engaged students, creating a learning community infused by Jesuit values. Working with this community, along with our staff, alumni, and business community, I seek to raise the profile of the Dolan School of Business to be recognized among the ranks of the best business schools."

A Trumbull, Conn., resident, Dr. Gibson, a leading expert in the study of anger in the workplace, will lead a school that continues to experience impressive growth. The Dolan School of Business features a world-class faculty engaging in intriguing scholarship with experience from a wide array of industries, and counts among its alumni prominent business leaders at top financial institutions and Fortune 500 companies. The School is listed by Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report among the best business programs in the U.S.

In making the announcement, Fairfield University President Rev. Jeffrey P. von Arx, S.J., noted that Dr. Gibson is not only an accomplished scholar, but also a talented and skillful administrator, as demonstrated by his accomplishments while serving as interim dean. "Don led the School during the rigorous and critical re-accreditation process, guiding the development of strategic themes and initiatives to move the School forward," Fr. von Arx said. "Don understands the unique needs of a cutting-edge, competitive business school infused with Jesuit values, while fully recognizing the advantages of collaboration across the institution."

Dr. Gibson came to Fairfield in 2001 as an associate professor of management. In 2008, he was promoted to professor and named chair of the management department, and was appointed interim dean of the Dolan School in 2011.

Before joining Fairfield, he was an assistant professor of organizational behavior at the Yale School of Management from 1995 to 2001. He received an MBA and Ph.D. from the Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has a master's in radio and television from San Francisco State University, and a bachelor's in administrative studies from the University of California, Riverside.

He has taught in the areas of organizational behavior, leadership, and human resource management. His research interests include the attributes and impact of organizational role models, anger and aggression in workplace conflict, and the management of individual emotional experience in organizations. In 2011, he won the prestigious Robert E. Wall Faculty Award to advance his research, a project entitled, "The Sound and the Fury: Understanding Anger in the Workplace."

Dr. Gibson has served in various leadership positions on professional boards and is currently on the executive committee of the International Association for Conflict Management. He is also a board and executive committee member of the Council of Churches of Greater Bridgeport. Prior to his academic career, he worked in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles, managing a post-production team for Lorimar Productions, producers of Dallas, Falcon Crest and Knots Landing . Gibson has appeared on stage at Fairfield University's Quick Center for the Arts in recent productions of Juan Mayorga's Perpetual Peace and Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet. It was partly Dr. Gibson's idea that the latter play be staged in an effort to use live theater on campus as a dynamic classroom where students can learn life lessons. It helped business students study ethics in the workplace, among many other lessons.

Posted On: 03-20-2013 11:03 AM

Volume: 45 Number: 229