When he was dean of the School of Business at the SUNY campus at Old Westbury on Long Island, Raj Devasagayam oversaw the school’s AACSB accreditation, provided administrative and curriculum direction and helped launched a master’s degree program in forensic accounting that now is regarded as one of the nation’s best.
He also served as a professor of marketing.
It was this diverse skillset and accomplishments that helped Devasagayam rise to top of more than 100 applicants to serve as the next dean of the Leon Hess Business School at Monmouth University in West Long Branch.
Devasagayam was named to the position Monday. He will assume the role July 1.
Devasagayam succeeds Donald Moliver, who served as dean of the school for 10 years. Moliver will continue with Monmouth as a tenured professor of real estate in the Department of Economics, Finance and Real Estate, and will continue to serve as acting chair of the Kislak Real Estate Institute for the 2021-22 academic year.
Rekha Datta, the interim provost and senior vice president of academic affairs at Monmouth, said she was thrilled to make the announcement.
“In addition to being a skilled and experienced leader and scholar, Dr. Devasagayam is a strategic thinker with a distinctive vision for high-quality business education, interdisciplinary, inclusionary and collaborative initiatives, which will align professional aspects of the program with the overall liberal arts mission of Monmouth University,” she said. “I am thrilled and excited for him to join us and help us navigate the Leon Hess Business School to new heights of excellence and distinction.”
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Devasagayam, who has worked at SUNY-Old Westbury since 2017, previously served as the director of the Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity at Siena College in Albany, New York, where he was responsible for yearlong programs, summer scholars programs, student travel and publications, and all independent studies across the campus. During his time in this position, he saw a steady growth in students engaged in research and creative activities at Siena, and he collaborated in securing several successful grants.
Devasagayam said he is looking forward to the role.
“I am honored to have this opportunity,” he said. “My vision for the Leon Hess Business School is perfectly aligned with the university’s mission to develop engaged leaders who will shape our diverse and interdependent world. I am excited to work with Monmouth’s outstanding faculty, staff and students to enhance the personalized attention, rigorous curriculum and immersive learning experiences that have been so central to the success of the Leon Hess Business School.”
Devasagayam graduated from the Institute for Management and Leadership in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He earned a doctorate in marketing from Florida Atlantic University. He earned an MBA from Mumbai University, Maharashtra, India, and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Vikram University, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India.
A self-proclaimed lifelong learner and promoter of faculty-student research collaboration, he continues to publish in leading peer-reviewed journals such as Business Perspectives and Research, Journal of Customer Behaviour, Atlantic Marketing Journal, Journal of Product and Brand Management, and Sport Marketing Quarterly.
