Courtesy Empire State College
David Bejou, dean of the College of Business and Social Sciences at West Virginia State University and a tenured professor of marketing, was appointed provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at SUNY Empire State College.
Bejou will be responsible for the academic enterprise of SUNY Empire State, headquartered in Saratoga Springs, including the education of nearly 19,000 students learning at 34 locations throughout the state, at eight international locations, face to face, online and through a blend of all these modes, at the associate, bachelor’s and master’s levels.
For the past 25 years, he has served public higher education in academic and administrative leadership roles of increasing responsibility and complexity. His nearly 18 years at the Historically Black Colleges and Universities of West Virginia State University; Elizabeth City State University, Elizabeth City, N.C.; and Virginia State University, Petersburg, Va., have provided him with an appreciation for institutional missions. This experience building and accrediting undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral degrees provides a valuable breadth of academic experience, college officials said.
“David Bejou’s record of success in public higher education in teaching, learning, scholarship and research, as well as his commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, make him the ideal individual to lead SUNY Empire as its chief academic officer,” said Merodie A. Hancock, president of the college. “I look forward to working with David, and the entire college community, as we expand on the college’s next 50 years of academic excellence and innovation.”
“I am honored, privileged and elated to join SUNY Empire State College and look forward to working with President Hancock, the college’s senior leadership team, its highly dedicated faculty and staff and motivated students, so that together, we will meet and exceed students’ diverse learning goals,” said Bejou.
Bejou’s appointment is the result of a national search, which was conducted by a college committee comprised of students, faculty and staff. He begins his new leadership role with the college on July 1.
As the dean of the College of Business and Social Sciences at West Virginia State University, he provides leadership for all academic programs in business, economics, psychology, sociology, political science, history and philosophy. Prior to joining West Virginia State, Bejou served as the dean of Elizabeth City State University’s School of Business and was a tenured professor of marketing from 2009-13.
At Virginia State University’s School of Business, where he worked from 1999-2009, he was a tenured professor of marketing, dean of its School of Business and vice provost for administration. From 1997-99, he was division head of behavioral sciences and business administration, interim graduate dean, and interim vice president for academic affairs, at Texas A&M University-Texarkana campus.
He completed a Ph.D. in business administration, with a minor in psychology, at the University of Memphis, an MBA in aviation, with a minor in aviation management from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Fla., and a Bachelor of Arts in linguistics, with a minor in English literature, from the College of Literature and Foreign Languages, Tehran, Iran.