Berna Aksu
Dean, School of Economics and Business Administration
925-744-7635
bp4@stmarys-ca.edu
Berna Polat Aksu, PhD, an accomplished scholar, educator, and academic leader, serves as Dean of Saint Mary’s School of Economics and Business Administration.
A member of the Saint Mary’s faculty for more than two decades, Dr. Aksu is an endowed professor of strategy and entrepreneurship and the founding chair of the Department of Management & Entrepreneurship. She most recently served as the founding Executive Director of Executive Education Programs, helping expand the College’s engagement with business leaders and organizations throughout the region.
Dr. Aksu earned her PhD in Strategic Management from the University of Washington and also holds an MBA from San Francisco State University and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Relations from Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, Turkey. A recipient of the Saint Mary’s College Teaching Excellence Award, her teaching and research focus on strategy, entrepreneurship, global management, corporate governance, ethics, and sustainability. She has published extensively in leading scholarly journals and has worked with organizations ranging from emerging startups to global corporations.