BUFFALO, NY ― Denise M. Rotondo, PhD, formerly dean of the School of Business at the State University of New York, Geneseo, has been named the new dean of the Canisius University Richard J. Wehle School of Business, it was announced today by Canisius Vice President for Academic Affairs Margaret C. McCarthy, PhD. Rotondo fills a vacancy left by the August 2017 departure of Daniel Borgia, PhD, who moved to China. She assumes her position at Canisius on June 4.
“Dr. Rotondo brings a wealth of experience as both a faculty member and administrator,” said McCarthy. “Her orientation and values fit beautifully with our Jesuit tradition of academic excellence and our commitment to care for the whole person. She will bring a high level of energy and creativity to the role and I look forward to working with her.”
As chief academic officer for the Wehle School of Business, Rotondo will join faculty and administrators committed to enhancing the college’s standing as one of the top regional universities in the Northeast. Accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International for more than three decades, the Wehle School of Business includes some of the most prominent business programs in the area and is characterized by a faculty committed to academic excellence.
Rotondo will work collaboratively with faculty to foster academic excellence through the encouragement, recognition, and support of outstanding teaching, worthy scholarship, and meaningful service. Additional responsibilities will include development of new programs and working closely with the business councils, while simultaneously helping to meet the current challenges higher education is facing. Rotondo will help develop successful and collaborative partnerships with members of the community in order to advance the mission and goals of the institution.
Rotondo brings to the position more than two decades of experience as a faculty member and an administrator. In this role, she led the school through a successful Continuous Improvement Review with AACSB in 2017.
Rotondo engaged alumni, employers and faculty in collaborative efforts to focus the MS in accounting program in data analytics across the curriculum. She added additional value to the program, which boasts CPA rates consistently in the top two in Western New York. She led the effort for construction of a new trading room at Geneseo.
Rotondo holds a MBA and PhD in business administration from Florida State University and bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Florida.
Canisius accounting students consistently achieve some of the highest CPA exam pass rates in the nation, and in New York State. The college’s finance students have the opportunity to be fund managers in the Golden Griffin Fund, a program where they actively manage an investment portfolio valued at $500,000. Students have competed in the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute Research Challenge, an elite international competition for finance students. In Western New York, Canisius has now competed eight times and won the regional competition all eight times. In 2015, the team placed first in the world out of 865 universities from 70 countries. Students in the Enactus program have regularly won regional competitions and have placed high in national competitions.
Canisius is one of 28 Jesuit universities in the nation and the premier private university in Western New York.
-30-
-
