Saint Mary’s Appoints Elizabeth Davis as New SEBA Dean
Saint Mary’s College of California has named Elizabeth Davis, PhD, as the new dean of the School of Economics and Business Administration (SEBA). Davis officially joins Saint Mary’s on August 1, 2019.
Davis is a distinguished administrator and scholar, with an impressive record in higher education leadership. In her new role, Davis will provide strategic direction and vision for SEBA, advance the school’s academic excellence, promote faculty development, advance fundraising, strengthen alumni engagement, and foster external partnerships in the greater Bay Area and beyond.
A respected professor of management, Davis has served as the dean of the School of Management at the University of San Francisco (USF) for the past five years. In this capacity, Davis led all aspects of the school, including financial management, accreditation, fundraising, board leadership, and marketing. Prior to USF, Davis served two years as the dean and a tenured full professor of management for the College of Business at the University of New Haven.
Her experience also includes 12 years of demonstrated leadership at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. As a tenured associate professor and the Organizational Sciences and Communication chair, she led a multidisciplinary department that offered undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs. She also served as the department’s graduate program director and founded the university’s Women’s Leadership Institute.
Davis’ administrative background includes serving as chair of the Management and Information Systems Department of the Erivan K. Haub School of Business at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. While chair, from 1994 to 2000, she more than doubled the size of full-time faculty in the department and successfully led the department through the AACSB accreditation process.
Davis has a depth of corporate experience that includes leadership in the biotech and medical fields. She served as managing director for the National Disease Research Interchange, a biomedical research firm; and as director of organizational development for the Moss Rehabilitation Hospital, both based in Philadelphia.
Having taught at two Jesuit institutions, Davis holds a deep appreciation for Saint Mary’s Lasallian Catholic mission, liberal arts tradition, and commitment to academic excellence, innovation, and social responsibility. Her scholarship, which examines sustainability in management and responsible business leadership, has been published extensively, and she has received several national and international grants for her work on global sustainability.
Davis earned her doctorate in social systems sciences from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in business policy, organizational theory, and strategic and international management. She earned her undergraduate degree in sociology from Barnard College at Columbia University.