UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Charles H. Whiteman, John and Karen Arnold Dean of the Penn State Smeal College of Business, will retire at the end of June 2024 following 12 years of service to the college and University.
“The Smeal College of Business has experienced tremendous growth and transformation over the last dozen years thanks to Dean Whiteman’s leadership,” said Penn State Executive Vice President and Provost Justin Schwartz. “In particular, he has refocused the college’s offerings, especially its online degree and certificate programs at the graduate level, to meet learners where they are and make the college a source of lifelong learning for business professionals. It is because of his vision that the college is well prepared for continued success and a bright future under a new leader. I want to thank Chuck for his many years of service and dedication to Penn State and wish him a long and happy retirement.”
Schwartz said a national search will soon commence to identify Whiteman’s successor, with the University intending to have a new dean in place by summer 2024 to allow for a seamless leadership transition.
Whiteman, who has served as Smeal’s dean since July 2012, oversees all aspects of one of the largest business schools in the nation. Smeal offers highly ranked programs to more than 6,000 students at all levels, counts more than 275 faculty and staff, supports the research activities of faculty members in six academic departments, houses a network of leading research centers in business, and features an alumni network of more than 95,000 graduates.
“Leading the Smeal College of Business for the past 12 years has been the highlight of my long and very rewarding career in higher education,” Whiteman said. “When I accepted this position back in 2012, I had every reason to believe that I would be joining a University committed to excellence and a college of business with the potential to soar to amazing heights. But I could never have anticipated the level of pride and passion that I have observed among our faculty, staff and alumni each and every day. The talent and commitment of these individuals have been an inspiration, and it is the reason that we have been able to accomplish so much in such a brief period.
“I look forward to supporting Provost Schwartz and the committee in their search for a successor to lead this fantastic group of professionals. I have no doubt that they will succeed in identifying a leader capable of continuing the journey that I so proudly led.”
Among his many achievements as dean, Whiteman oversaw the development of one of the largest and most robust professional graduate business portfolios in the country. Under his leadership, the college transformed its graduate offerings to place a greater emphasis on lifelong learning, especially through an expansion of flexible online and one-year residential learning opportunities, to meet the needs of working professionals throughout their careers. Over the last decade, the college’s portfolio of professional graduate programs has grown to include seven one-year residential specialty master’s degrees, nine online master’s degrees, an executive doctorate in business administration degree, and 15 online graduate certificates.
In addition, Whiteman championed a culture of honor and integrity, and the research and integration of socially responsible business practices into the curriculum and learning experiences of students. As part of its commitment to integrating these principles into the college’s research and teaching, Smeal created the Tarriff Center for Business Ethics and Social Responsibility in 2019 and the Center for the Business of Sustainability in 2020.
Whiteman also helped to advance experiential learning opportunities for students through the creation of the Saxby’s experiential learning café, which opened in the Business Building in August 2018, and the Nittany Lion Consulting Group, which launched in fall 2020. To help non-business majors earn Smeal credits and develop skills in areas such as finance, management, marketing and supply chain, Whiteman was instrumental in the launch of the Smeal College of Business Fundamentals Certificate in 2015, which is open to students from any discipline.
Over the course of his tenure, Whiteman cultivated more than $187.3 million in fundraising support for the college, including $34.5 million in 2022, the most successful fundraising year in Smeal’s history. During the recently concluded “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence” campaign, Smeal raised $116.3 million, far exceeding its original $88 million goal and establishing a new record for the college in a single fundraising campaign.
Under Whiteman, Smeal has remained a top destination for students seeking world-class business education. Total enrollments have grown each of the last five years, from approximately 5,100 students at all levels in fall 2018 to more than 6,200 in fall 2022, and the college received nearly 20,000 applications for its class of 2027.
Prior to joining Penn State, Whiteman was senior associate dean of the Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa, where he was responsible for undergraduate and graduate degree programs, faculty and staff recruitment, promotion and tenure, budgetary operations, college facilities, technology operations, and strategic planning for the business school.
During a career that began as an instructor at Iowa in 1980, Whiteman advanced through the faculty ranks to become a chaired professor and served in a variety of administrative roles, including chair of the Department of Economics, director of the Institute for Economic Research, and interim dean.
Whiteman holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Minnesota and a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Kansas. He has conducted research that has been supported by a number of grants from the National Science Foundation, published more than 70 academic papers, written two books, and served as associate editor of several economics journals. He also has advised the state of Iowa's Department of Management on economic issues and served as a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Banks of Kansas City, Atlanta, Cleveland and Minneapolis.