Freedman to step down as dean, will remain on OSU Spears School faculty

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

(STILLWATER, Okla., April 27, 2009) – Dr. Sara M. Freedman, dean of the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University, has announced she will be leaving her position as dean and taking a full-time faculty position within the school to continue her teaching and research interests.  She will remain as Spears School dean until a successor is in place.

“We want to thank Sara for her service to OSU as dean of our high-profile and successful business school,” said OSU President Burns Hargis. “We appreciate the continuity she will provide as we search for a new dean.  We wish her all the best.”

OSU Provost Marlene Strathe said, “We congratulate Sara on all the Spears School has accomplished under her leadership.  She guided the school through a very successful reaccreditation, record-setting fundraising, curricular innovations, increased research, award-winning accomplishments by faculty and students, and much more.”

“My time as dean of the Spears School has been enhanced by the opportunity to work with the faculty, staff, alumni, and students of the Spears School,” Freedman said. “I am grateful to everyone who has helped us move the Spears School forward. 

Freedman is pleased with the creation of the school’s new entrepreneurship initiative, as well as the Center for Executive and Professional Development, which has expanded its offerings and she believes is stronger than ever.  “Each academic department is stronger today than it has been,” she said. “Across the Spears School landscape we are proud to recognize innovation and excellence.  The future for OSU business education is bright, despite the challenging economic news we hear daily.”

Freedman was named the 17th dean of the Spears School of Business in January 2006.  She previously served as dean and professor of management in the College of Business and Industry at Mississippi State University. 

Prior to accepting the deanship at Mississippi State, Freedman served as dean of the College of Business Administration at the University of Houston for three years, and was associate dean for Academic and Research Programs for 10 years.  She joined the faculty at the University of Houston in 1976, and received the College of Business Association Distinguished Faculty Award in 1985. She also was a Teaching Fellow and research assistant at the University of North Carolina from 1972-76, and was a Fellow at the Center for Creative Leadership in 1974.

She received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Boston University, and her Ph.D. in organizational behavior from the College of Business Administration at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.