Dean of College of Business Named Vice President of MidAmerican Business Deans Association

KENT, Ohio - Nov. 9, 2016 - PRLog -- Deborah F. Spake, Ph.D., dean of the College of Business Administration, has been named the vice president and 2017 program chair for the MidAmerican Business Deans Association (MABDA). Spake was elected at the association's October business meeting.

The MABDA strives to improve collegiate education for business through innovative teaching methods, discussion forums and educational objectives.

"I am honored to serve as the vice president and program chair and look forward to helping bring business education best practices to members," Spake said.

Spake earned a Ph.D. in marketing and a Master of Arts degree in advertising from the University of Alabama and a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication from the University of South Alabama. She joined Kent State University in January 2013 as Dean of the College of Business Administration. She previously served as associate dean at the University of South Alabama's Mitchell College of Business and has served on the faculties of the University of Alabama-Birmingham, Western Michigan University, and as a visiting professor at the University of Applied Sciences in Worms, Germany. She also worked previously as the marketing research director of a publishing company and later for consulting firms in Atlanta, Georgia, specializing in new product development and strategic planning.

Spake's research has appeared in numerous publications including the Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of Service Research, Journal of Consumer Marketing and Journal of Business Research.

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Kent State University's College of Business Administration is fully accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB) and one of the largest colleges of business in Ohio. The College has more than 4,300 students representing 43 countries with over 85 full-time faculty from 16 countries.

The college grants undergraduate through graduate degrees, and is one of only three public business colleges in Ohio with a comprehensive Ph.D. program. The MBA program is offered in an accelerated format. The Executive MBA program offers two tracks: one targeting corporate professionals and the other healthcare executives. The M.S. in Accounting and M.A. in Economics are specialized master's degrees for those seeking advanced study in these disciplines. The College also offers a Master of Science degree in Business Analytics (MSBA) that spans all industries and organizations. The college boasts 10 undergraduate majors, 12 minors and a Professional Sales Certificate program.

The college is listed as a Best Business School by Princeton Review, ranked as a Best Business College by U.S. News and World Report, one of only 23 accounting programs worldwide to be endorsed by the IMA (Institute of Management Accountants), ranked Top-Tier for Executive Education in North America by CEO Magazine and recognized (Sales Education Foundation) for Professional Sales Education.

The college boasts an onsite Career Services Center and International Programs Office dedicated to business students, and operates the Global Management Center, the Center for Information Systems and the Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation all propelling scholarly research, establishing innovative industry partnerships and providing outreach to Northeast Ohio and beyond.

Media Contact:

Joni Bowen, Public Relations and Media Specialist, (330) 672-1279, cell: (330) 221-0637
 jbowen1@kent.edu