Three deans named

Three new deans have been named to lead the Craig School of Business, the College of Arts and Humanities and the College of Social Sciences. The announcements came from Provost Jeri Echeverria.

Two of the deans, Dr. Luz Gonzalez and Dr. Vida Samiian, have been serving in interim capacities in their colleges. The third, Dr. Douglas A. Hensler, comes to Fresno State from the University of Colorado in Boulder.

Hensler, who has broad experience in international business and higher education, is the first holder of the Sid Craig Endowed Dean’s Chair at California State University, Fresno.

He currently is the W. Edwards Deming Distinguished Professor of Management at the University of Colorado in Boulder and is known for his international business expertise, his experience in the private sector and his familiarity with education and community partnerships.

His fields of interest and teaching experience include finance and economics, value creation and strategy, finance theory, intellectual capital and knowledge management, investments, corporate structure and control, change management, quality improvement and entrepreneurship.

The endowed chair was created by a $1 million endowment in 2003 by Sid Craig to the Craig School of Business.

Hensler is a co-founder and executive director of the Multinational Alliance for the Advancement of Organizational Excellence and is on the academic board of e-TQM College at Dubai University, United Arab Emirates.

He is widely published in professional journals both nationally and internationally and serves on the editorial boards of three publications.

He held several management positions with Precision Castparts and Bingham-Willamette in Portland, Ore., and with McDonnell-Douglas Astronautics in Huntington Beach. He has also had consulting relationships with large firms such as American Airlines, Texas Utilities and Sporian Microsystems, Inc.

Hensler earned his undergraduate degree at Princeton University, his MBA at the University of Portland and his doctorate in finance at the University of Washington. See Hensler’s curriculum vitae.       

Regarding the searches for the deans of Social Sciences and Arts and Humanities, Echeverria said, “Dean Samiian and Dean Gonzalez were selected during national search processes containing nearly 30 applicants apiece. Each came highly recommended by the faculty search committees, which both did a very good job of providing excellent candidates for us to choose from.

“The campus should be proud of the fact that these two colleagues rose to the top in each process,” Echeverria said.

Dr. Luz Gonzalez was named interim dean of the College of Social Sciences in 2003, after serving for two years as associate dean.

Since joining the faculty of the Department of Chicano and Latin American Studies in 1989, she has been active in campus life. In the early 1990s, she became coordinator of the successful Faculty Mentoring Program, a program she directed as a faculty member for about 10 years. During that period, she became chairperson of her Department and held that position for eight years.

In addition to these administrative positions, Gonzalez has been central to the annual Latino Commencement Ceremony since 1994. She also played a leadership role in the establishment of the Cesar Chavez Monument, chairs the President's Commission on Human Relations and Equity and has been a strong advocate for students and faculty on campus.

Gonzalez completed her Ph.D. in Elementary Education at the University of Arizona in 1991. See Gonzalez’s CV.

Dr. Vida Samiian has been serving as interim dean of the College of Arts and Humanities since the retirement of Dr. Luis Costa last year. She had been associate dean since 1994 and served as acting dean in fall 1997.

Her fields of specialization are syntax, first and second language acquisition, sociolinguistics and Indo-Iranian languages. Since joining the faculty member in the Department of Linguistics in 1984, Samiian has served in many capacities on behalf of the college.  From 1989 through 1993, she served as chair of the Department of Linguistics.

In addition to her administrative duties, Samiian has played a central role in the development of University High School and the Summer Arts Program. She has also served as liaison to Fresno County Academic Decathlon, and has played a primary role in the solicitation of grants for the college.

A native of Tehran, Iran, Samiian attended UCLA for her bachelor’s degree in psychology and her M.A. and Ph.D. in linguistics, which she earned in 1983. See Samiian's CV .