Dr. Katherina Pattit is the new dean of the Herberger Business School (HBS) (July 1, 2022), one of the few accredited business schools in the State of Minnesota, with a track record of excellence in preparing business leaders.
As dean, Pattit plays a pivotal role in setting strategic direction in alignment with the University’s It’s Time vision, strengthening the school’s distinctive programs, developing new initiatives to meet the needs of the many stakeholders it serves, and actively fostering impactful scholarship and creative endeavors.
During the search process, Dean Pattit was particularly drawn to the HBS community, its innovative faculty, and market relevant programs. “Our programs are all developed with the goal of meeting the emerging needs of our community as well as the career aspirations of our students,” Dr. Pattit said. “Some excellent examples include our information assurance program that prepares our graduates to keep our country’s information infrastructure safe from cyber threats. Programs in real estate, professional selling, and accounting are among the numerous, shining examples of renowned programs of HBS.”
Pattit arrived at St. Cloud State from the University of St. Thomas, where she had served since 2008 in numerous leadership roles. This includes chairing a department, strategic planning, launching a departmental advisory board with leaders of Fortune 500 companies, implementing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives, and collaborating with Opus College of Business leadership to obtain a $900,000 grant from US Bank to develop a business ethics resource website for small and medium-sized businesses.
She is an accomplished and internationally recognized academic with a substantial history of publications in journals such as Business & Society, Journal of Business Ethics, and Economic Management, and Financial Markets. Dean Pattit serves the profession with varying leadership roles in the Academy of Management and the Society of Business Ethics and holds a strong voice in the field through numerous invited speaking engagements and presentations.
Pattit is inspired by teaching and learning and is driven to support student success in the classroom and the school. Pattit has a Ph.D. from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and a Diplom-Kauffrau (German equivalent of MBA) from Friedrich-Alexander University in Germany.
“As I begin settling into my new role, I am particularly excited to develop a solid support system for the innovations of our faculty,” Dean Pattit said. “Many faculty have strong connections to the business community as well as cutting edge developments in their academic disciplines, so they can identify early on where the workforce trends are going and what our students will need to be successful.”
Dean Pattit has already immersed herself with introductions to the business community in the region and beyond to leverage friendships and resources to benefit teaching and learning. She is also working through new strategies to share the success of the Herberger Business School and its students.
