Eugene Sivadas appointed dean of Lam Family College of Business

San Francisco – July 22, 2020 – Eugene Sivadas has been appointed dean of the Lam Family College of Business at San Francisco State University effective July 27. He succeeds Linda Oubré, who left San Francisco State to become president of Whittier College. Yim-Yu Wong, formerly the associate dean of the College of Business, has served as interim dean since 2018.

Sivadas will oversee all academic, financial and administrative functions of the college, which has one of the largest and most comprehensive academic programs devoted to business education in the San Francisco Bay Area, with an emphasis on sustainability and preparing students to succeed in a global economy. Sivadas will also guide initiatives focused on innovation, entrepreneurship and professional development funded by a transformational $25 million gift from alumnus Chris Larsen, his wife Lyna Lam and Rippleworks Foundation.

“Dr. Sivadas’ background uniquely qualifies him for this position,” said Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Jennifer Summit. “He has a solid foundation and proven success in academic leadership, strategic planning and fiscal operations and possesses the key management skills that are essential in leading business education at SF State.”

“I am very humbled and excited to be joining the Lam Family College of Business, San Francisco’s business school,” Sivadas said. “We have a very diverse and resilient student body, a terrific location, dedicated faculty and staff, and the support from the Lam-Larsen family promises to be a game changer. I see tremendous opportunities in community engagement, cross-campus collaboration and innovative research as we seek to further our research and teaching mission.”

Sivadas has served as associate dean of Academic and Student Affairs at the Milgard School of Business at the University of Washington, Tacoma, overseeing the school’s academic programs and leading initiatives such as the creation of new academic programs, global study tours, alumni outreach and online teaching and learning projects. From 2008 on, he also served as Milgard’s MBA program director and coordinator of the master’s in Cybersecurity and Leadership.

A proponent of cross-disciplinary collaboration, Sivadas co-founded UW Tacoma’s Design Program, a collaboration between the university’s Arts and Sciences, Engineering and Business schools that led to the creation of a makerspace and an undergraduate minor in Design. Within his own college he launched a health care concentration in the MBA program. As an academic, he has published research in a number of leading marketing journals, including the Journal of Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Marketing Letters and the Journal of Business Research. His research has been cited more than 5,000 times. He co-authored the ninth edition of a leading marketing textbook, “Marketing Channel Strategy: An Omni Channel Approach.”

Sivadas holds a Ph.D. in Marketing from the University of Cincinnati and has held faculty appointments at Rutgers Business School, the University of Cincinnati and Emerson College. He received an M.A. degree in Marketing Communications from Emerson College and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Delhi in Delhi, India.

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About San Francisco State University

San Francisco State University is a doctoral public university serving students from the San Francisco Bay Area, across California and beyond, with nationally acclaimed programs that span a broad range of disciplines. Nearly 30,000 students enroll at the University each year, and its more than 253,000 graduates have contributed to the economic, cultural and civic fabric of San Francisco and beyond. Through them — and more than 1,700 world-class faculty members — SF State proudly embraces its legacy of academic excellence, community engagement and commitment to social justice. For more information, visit sfsu.edu.