Dean's Report 2023-2024
Welcome to the inaugural Dean’s Report from the Hankamer School of Business. This publication serves as an opportunity to update you on our progress toward the Business School’s major initiatives of purposeful research, experiential and innovative learning, and Christ-centered diversity. The Dean’s Report will take the place of the spring Baylor Business Review, but you will still receive that publication each fall.
From celebrating the Business School’s 100-year anniversary to completing our AACSB reaccreditation review, we have made significant progress in key strategic areas.
March 16, 2023, marked a century since Baylor University established the Business Administration Department, which later became the Hankamer School of Business that we know today. In the fall, we were able to celebrate this milestone at our annual Alumni Homecoming Reception, which featured a proclamation from the City of Waco, the reading of a letter from Texas Governor Greg Abbott and an impressive projection mapping show on the exterior of the Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation displaying a timeline of significant events for the Business School.
The summer months were especially busy for our team. We welcomed Brad Lail as the new associate dean for Undergraduate Programs, and he went straight to work identifying areas where HSB can improve the lives of our students and implementing innovative programs. The Peer Leader Program launched in 2023, which matches upperclassmen with first-year Pre-Business students to help guide them through the challenges of college life. We also introduced Pat Bray as our resident chaplain in late 2022, and he has done an excellent job of connecting with students in ways that may be difficult for faculty to do.
We have also made significant strides in our graduate programs. The Hankamer School of Business and the College of Arts & Sciences launched a joint graduate program—a Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA)—in the summer of 2023. This is and has been a growing field, and the cross-disciplinary program strengthens the learning opportunities for our students.
We also spent a majority of the summer and early fall preparing for our AACSB reaccreditation review. The reaccreditation team arrived on campus on Oct. 1 and spent the next few days meeting with various members of the Business School. Upon their review, the Hankamer School of Business received its renewal of full reaccreditation, which has been in place since 1959.
I am excited to share more highlights from 2023 in this publication as we will further our mission and purpose.
God Bless,
Sandeep Mazumder
William E. Crenshaw Endowed Dean
