Roger A. Dean Emeritus Professor of Business Administration

Roger Dean, a native of Australia, took six gap years before enrolling at the University of Queensland and earning a Batchelor of Commerce degree in 1974. In 1973 he was selected to participate in a student-exchange program at the University of Cambridge which included an internship at IBM in London. He subsequently attended Michigan State University earning a PhD in Business Administration and Psychology in 1981.

Before joining the W&L faculty in January 1984, Roger held faculty positions at Michigan State and Southern Methodist Universities. While on sabbaticals from W&L, Roger held visiting professorships at the University of Western Australia, the National University of Ireland, Galway (twice), and at John Cabot University in Italy. In addition he participated in university seminars in Northern Ireland, Denmark, and Italy.

Following his first visiting position in Galway, Roger designed a spring-term-abroad program, “The Culture and Business of Ireland.” This course was so successful and demand was so strong that Roger often taught it during his “off spring term” as an unpaid overload. Roger was so passionate about the value of a global education, that he encouraged all his advisees and students to study abroad at least once during their time at W&L. Roger’s spring-term-abroad program was offered a total of eight times between 2006 and 2017.

In addition to his spring-term course in Ireland, Roger regularly taught courses in Management & Organizational Behavior, Global Human Resource Management, and Leadership Themes in Classic Films.

His research interests include organizational choice and organizational commitment, and the importance of matching job candidates to organizational cultures. He has published articles in such diverse journals as the Journal of Applied Psychology, HR Magazine, and Accounting, Organizations and Society.

Professionally he served on two national committees of the Society for Human Resource Management and on an examination panel of the Human Resource Certification Institute. He was a member of the Personnel Advisory Board for the Commonwealth of Virginia and vice president of the Commonwealth Alliance for Children, Schools, and Families.

Locally he served as Deacon and Treasurer at Grace Presbyterian Church, and for six years was chairman of the Rockbridge Republican Committee, He served two terms as sixth district representative to the State Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia, and in 1996 was an elected delegate to the Republican National Convention.

Roger came to W&L as a bachelor and in the summer of 1986 he returned to Australia to marry his long-time love, Kay. Together they have five children who benefitted from Roger’s global education passion, accompanying him on his international assignments, and studying abroad while in college. Professor Dean retired from W&L in June 2019 and is now enjoying life in Savannah, Georgia.

Education

Ph.D., Michigan State University
BCom, University of Queensland

Teaching

Organization Behavior, Human Resource Management, Work and Family Priorities, and Employment Law