Richard Rosett, who has led the College of Business the past six years, will
retire July 1, after 30 years in academic administration.
An
outspoken leader of business education, Rosett responded to industry's
plea and integrated total quality across the college-into the curriculum
and the teaching process. He transformed the college into a setting in
which students are valued customers and teachers continually strive to
improve both what and how they teach.
As
dean, Rosett established the RIT/USA Today Quality Cup Award in
1991, which annually honors individuals and teams making exceptional contributions
to their employers' quality programs. Under his leadership RIT became
one of eight universities selected to participate in the prestigious Motorola
TQM University Challenge, chosen for integrating total quality into their
business and engineering curricula. RIT was one of just nine universities
nationwide to win $1.28 million from IBM to develop a total quality curriculum
and apply quality principles to educational administration.
Other
major accomplishments during Rosett's tenure include the college finishing
tied for 37th among the top 50 undergraduate business programs in the
1996 U.S. News & World Report annual college rankings. The
college began offering an executive MBA program in 1992, developed in
conjunction with executives from such companies as Eastman Kodak and Xerox
Corp. In 1991 the college, in cooperation with the U.S. Business School
in Prague, launched an executive MBA program in the Czech Republic, aimed
at assisting the transformation of the Czech economy from communism to
the free market.
"My
work at RIT includes some of my proudest accomplishments and most cherished
memories," says Rosett. According to Stanley McKenzie, provost and vice
president for Academic Affairs, "RIT has been exceedingly blessed in having
the academic leadership of Dick Rosett, not only in the College of Business,
but throughout the university."
Rosett
will remain active at RIT through continued involvement with the Quality
Cup, the executive MBA program, the college's major gifts program, the
IBM grant and the Prague MBA program.
According
to McKenzie, the search process to replace Rosett is under way, with Acting
Dean William Nowlin becoming interim dean July 1 until the search is complete.
