Bizzell Award
The winner of the 2024 Bizzell Award, which was presented on June 25 in Santa Fe, was the Woody L. Hunt College of Business at the University of Texas at El Paso for their program, "Corporate Academies: A Model for Industry-Led Experiential Business Education."
Submissions for the 2025 Bizzell Award will be accepted later this fall.
Membership Info
We are now accepting memberships for 2024-25. Please click on "Become a Member" on the home page to renew or to join us!
James E. Payne, 2023-24 SWBDA President
Dean, Spears School of Business
Oklahoma State University
Message from the SWBDA President
Dear colleague,
Greetings from the Southwestern Business Deans’ Association and thank you for visiting our website! If you are a current or former member of SWBDA, you know the outstanding opportunity we provide for an intimate, lively, and relevant conference for business deans and associate deans each June. A special welcome if you are new to SWBDA. Please join the association (click on “Become a Member” at the top of this page) and consider attending our annual conference to be held June 23-25 at Hotel Santa Fe in beautiful Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Steve Beach, Dean of the College of Business at the University of Texas Permian Basin and President-Elect of SWBDA, along with members of the SWBDA Executive Board, is planning a conference program to focus on strategies and tactics for building student, staff, and faculty engagement; industry partnerships; and the impact of technology disruption. An AACSB leader will also be on site to share the latest developments in AACSB accreditation. Please reach out with any topics you would like to see added to our conference program.
If you have a question about SWBDA or the June conference or simply want to reach out, please click on the “About SWBDA” tab for the list of Board members.
We look forward to seeing you in Santa Fe!
Testimonials
FINLEY GRAVES
FORMER DEAN AT UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS, NOW RETIRED PROVOST
Those who attend regularly state that they enjoy the intimate feel of the meeting and the philosophy of practical application that guides the content of the sessions. The Association encourages the attendance of Associate Deans as well as Deans, since much in the topics covered is relevant to their work.
ED BASHAW
DEAN, SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, EMPORIA STATE UNIVERSITY
Members tell me they enjoy the intimacy that our conference offers as we typically have 60 to 75 in attendance. Those numbers and the friendliness of the participants allow conference attendees to get to know each other well. One measure of success is the number of productive relationships forged between members who can share ideas, opinions, and data that help us all improve our B-schools.
TANUJA SINGH
FORMER DEAN AT ST. MARY'S UNIVERSITY, NOW PROVOST AT LOYOLA UNIVERSITY NEW ORLEANS
What makes the Southwestern Business Deans' Association one of the best values for the money is the quality, relevance, and timeliness of the topics that are discussed at the annual meeting. Many of our members have also told me that what draws them to the SWBDA is its friendly, intimate, and close-knit community-like structure. Each year, participants comment on the value they derive from sharing ideas, data, opinions, and above all, friendships.