FAYETTEVILLE -- Matt Waller, an associate dean leading the push to expand executive training, will take on the role of interim dean for the business college at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, the university announced Friday.
Waller will replace Eli Jones, who is leaving UA to accept a dean position at the business school for Texas A&M University, his alma mater. Waller will take on the interim dean role when Jones leaves UA at the end of the academic year.
"We want a smooth transition for the next dean, and we want a college that is attractive to potential dean candidates," Waller said in a statement released by UA.
He was appointed for one year by Provost Sharon Gaber, who will be leaving UA at the end of the academic year to become president at the University of Toledo. She consulted Chancellor G. David Gearhart, who is retiring in July, and UA System President Don Bobbitt about Waller's appointment, according to a statement from Gaber released by UA.
A nationwide search to find the next dean of UA's Sam M. Walton College of Business is expected to begin this year, but no timeline has been set, according to the announcement.
Waller joined UA as a visiting assistant professor in 1994. He serves as chairman of the college's department of supply chain management.
Last year, he was appointed by Jones to be UA's associate dean for executive education, a new position aimed at growing educational offerings to businesses. One such offering announced last year is the J.B. Hunt Supply Chain University, a specialized curriculum offered to employees of the Lowell-based company.
Waller will earn $310,000 in the new role, up from his current salary of $239,494. Jones earns $392,044.
Metro on 04/18/2015