The University of Washington Tacoma is launching a national search for the next Dean of the Milgard School of Business. The Dean reports to the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (EVCAA) and is responsible for all matters relating to the educational, budgetary, and administrative affairs of their units.  A comprehensive leadership profile and additional information is forthcoming. The search will be assisted by WittKieffer, an executive search firm specializing in leadership searches.  

Advisory Search Committee

  • Committee Co-Chair, David Reyes, Dean of the School of Nursing and Healthcare Leadership
  • Committee Co-Chair, Jill Purdy, Professor, Milgard School of Business
  • Chad Brown, Associate Vice Chancellor for Development, UW Tacoma
  • Don Clark, Jr., Chair, Milgard Executive Council and President and CEO, Sound Credit Union
  • Jaime Core, Director of Operations, Milgard School of Business
  • Ray Fang, Assistant Professor, Milgard School of Business
  • Rupinder Jindal, Professor, Milgard School of Business
  • Fei Leng, Associate Professor, Milgard School of Business
  • Shahrokh Saudagaran, Professor, Milgard School of Business
  • Hui-Suk So, Associate Teaching Professor, Milgard School of Business
  • Michael Turek, Associate Teaching Professor, Milgard School of Business

Charge Letter

October 2, 2026

Dear Colleagues:

Thank you for agreeing to serve on the advisory search committee to identify and recommend candidates for the position of Dean of the Milgard School of Business. Dean Reyes and Professor Purdy will co-chair the committee.

Executive Order 20 from the University Policy Directory sets forth the basic procedures for conducting a search for a Dean. Your role is critical in identifying and recommending the most qualified candidates to join our campus.

The Dean reports to the EVCAA and is responsible for all matters relating to the educational, budgetary, and administrative affairs of their units, as outlined in Executive Orders 12 and 72. The University is strongly committed to recruiting outstanding faculty from across the nation and around the world. It seeks to build an academic community with varied backgrounds, perspectives, experiences, and ideas to enrich the academic environment and support student success.

As you develop processes for evaluating eligible candidates, I ask you to thoughtfully establish evaluation criteria and protocols for gathering and considering feedback from faculty, staff, student and campus leadership. At the conclusion of the search, I would like to receive from you the names of 3-4 highly qualified candidates as well as their strengths and areas for potential growth. 

We will be supported in this process by search consultants Christine Pendleton and Bree Liddell of WittKieffer as well as Heather Porter in the Office of Academic Affairs. Heather will communicate with you to arrange the first meeting of the committee. I will attend a portion of the meeting to discuss the search with you. Gerri Williams, Director of Academic Human Resources and Faculty Affairs, will also be in touch with you about a search workshop in the morning or afternoon of October 7.

Thank you very much for accepting this important assignment.

Sincerely,

Andy Harris
Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
University of Washington Tacoma

Downloads

Advisory Search Committee Charge Letter - Dean of the Milgard School of Business (PDF)