The first of four finalist candidates for the position of provost at Emporia State University will visit campus Monday, March 15, 2021.
Dr. Angappa “Guna” Gunasekaran currently is special assistant to the chancellor and professor in the School of Business and Public Administration at California State University, Bakersfield. He formerly was dean of the business school during which he oversaw a school with 2,024 undergraduate and 249 graduate students. He led the school’s AACSB successful accreditation maintenance effort, developed an advancement strategic plan for the school and established the first Diversity and Inclusion Council within the School of Business and Public Administration.
Before his current appointment, Gunasekaran served at Charlton College of Business at UMass Dartmouth as dean and professor (2013-2017), chairperson and professor in the Department of Decision and Information Sciences (2006-2012), founding director of the Business Innovation Research Center (2006-2017), associate then full professor of Operations Manager in the Department of Management (1998-2002). He also served at institutions in Uxbridge, England; Churchill, Australia; Vaasa, Finland; Madras, India; and Montreal, Canada.
Gunasekaran earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and master’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Madras, India, and a Ph.D. in industrial engineering and operations research from the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay.
During a public webinar at 3 p.m. Monday, Gunasekaran will present on how he would move ESU forward followed by questions and answers. The webinar is open to the entire ESU campus as well as interested community members. The link to join the webinar is at emporia.edu/live. Questions can be typed in during the webinar.
Gunasekaran also will meet with ESU President Allison Garrett, the vice presidents, Faculty Senate executive board and the Provost Council before touring the Emporia community.
Those wanting to learn more may see Gunasekaran’s cover letter and curriculum vita online at https://www.emporia.edu/work-emporia-state/provost-search/. The search committee welcomes input from all who participate in meetings and the forum. A link to an online survey will be on that page after his visit.