After a national search, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) appointed Shawnta Friday-Stroud (PhD ’97) as dean of its School of Business and Industry (SBI). FAMU Provost Cynthia Hughes Harris made the announcement on February 15, 2010.
“I am so proud of Friday-Stroud and I am very confident that she will be an excellent dean,” said Joyce J. Elam, executive dean, College of Business Administration, Florida International University (FIU).
“Friday-Stroud completed our doctoral program more quickly than any other student,” said Galen Kroeck, chair, Department of Management and International Business. “Her diligence, persistence and dedication to an academic career is now also reflected clearly in her rapid rise to a top administrative position.”
It’s true that Friday-Stroud moved up the academic ladder very fast, with her career as a faculty member at FAMU beginning in 1997. She appreciates FIU’s doctoral program in management in which “the focus on the rigors of analytic and research methods helped me,” she said. “I left feeling very comfortable doing research, which contributed to my ability to advance rapidly.”
Impact of FIU experiences continues.
While admitting that her colleagues may tire of the many times she mentions how FIU does things, as dean she looks forward to applying “a lot of what I learned in the business school.”
Of particular interest, she notes the college’s online initiatives and its Executive MBA and BBA+ Weekend programs. She also is open to the opportunity to return to FIU to speak to doctoral students.
“I’d like to offer them ideas on how to navigate the doctoral process and the academic path as well as things you have to sacrifice in trying to reach a goal,” she said.
Aaron Galloway, first-year MBA student at FAMU, speaks for the business students there, while Kroeck speaks for everyone who knew her at FIU.
“I’m very happy,” Galloway said. “She really understands SBI,” with Kroeck adding, “Congratulations, Shawnta—you make us all extremely proud that we could be part of your development and share in your accomplishments.”
