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Introducing Bentley’s Next Provost

June 9, 2022

Dear Bentley Community,

I hope that you are enjoying the first few weeks of summer. It has been a busy year, and I hope that each member of our community finds time to rest and recharge in the weeks ahead before what is sure to be another busy, fulfilling academic year. In support of our academic success and strategy, I am excited to share with you today that Paul Tesluk will join our community as Bentley’s next provost and vice president for academic affairs on August 1.

Paul will join Bentley from the University at Buffalo, where he has served as dean and professor at the School of Management since 2016. In this role, Paul led an ambitious expansion of their business school’s initiatives in entrepreneurship, leadership, health care management, social innovation, global programs, and diversity and inclusion, all while launching new undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs. With Paul at the helm, UB’s School of Management rose in the ranks as an internationally recognized leader among public business schools, regularly placing in the top 10% in management education and MBA rankings. 

As dean, Paul guided the School of Management through a strategic planning process that resulted in a renewed mission, vision and set of strategic priorities. Paul has a track record of embracing innovative approaches that will serve Bentley well as we look ahead to implementing our new curriculum and strategic positioning process. At UB, he was instrumental in launching and strengthening new academic degree programs in rising areas of management and championed an array of non-degree certificates and micro-credential programs. With a sharp awareness of the student experience, he led efforts to expand student fellowships and internships and enhanced international opportunities for students, leading to a significant rise in experiential learning and networking.

Before serving as dean, as the Donald Carmichael Chaired Professor of Organizational Behavior, Paul spent two years as chair of the Department of Organization and Human Resources and founded the School of Management’s Center for Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness. Before joining UB, Paul was the Ralph J. Tyser Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management in the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, where he served as chair of the Department of Management and Organization. He served as chair of the Academy of Management’s Organizational Behavior Division and is an elected Fellow of the Society for Organizational Behavior and the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

Paul’s research has been supported by agencies such as NSF and NIH, and he has worked with and consulted for dozens of for-profit and nonprofit organizations and served on several boards. He holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Penn State and a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell.

As we prepare to welcome Paul, I’d like to offer my sincere thanks to Associate Professor Liz Brown, who chaired the committee that managed this nationwide search, along with the many faculty and staff who contributed countless days and hours over the past few months as members of the search committee, reviewing, vetting and interviewing the candidates for provost. I also want to thank interim Provost Rick Oches for stepping up and answering the call to serve his colleagues and our institution as the chief academic officer over the past three months. Rick has defined grace and professionalism while holding this position, and we are fortunate to have him returning to the role of dean of arts and sciences in August. Rick, along with Jane Griffin and Alina Chircu, provided outstanding leadership as the interim academic leadership team. We would not have made it through the end of the year without each of them.

Paul will join our university at an exciting time in our history, and I look forward to working closely with him, Dean Oches and Dean Sanjay Putrevu. Paul will serve as an important asset to our community as together we envision the future of higher education, and specifically, the role that Bentley will continue to play as a leader in business education. 

Most Sincerely,

President Chrite