New Dean for the College of Business

J. Dennis Cradit, Ph.D., will join San Diego State University on July 1 as dean of the College of Business Administration.

Cradit has served since 2006 as dean of the College of Business at Southern Illinois University. In 2012, he was tasked with additional responsibilities as deputy to the chancellor for innovation and economic development, helping to focus the university’s energies toward regional engagement and economic development.

"Dennis Cradit’s accomplishments in building partnerships with the business community, coupled with his focus on academic achievement and innovation, distinguished him in a strong national pool of  candidates,” said SDSU President Elliot Hirshman. “I am excited to welcome him and his family to our community and am confident that he will lead our College of Business Administration to even greater levels of national and international distinction."

Cradit will lead SDSU’s College of Business Administration as it continues along a trajectory of success. The college is ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top 10 best business schools in California and among the 50 best public business schools in the U.S.  

Among the college’s outstanding assets are: the Charles W. Lamden School of Accountancy; the Lavin Entrepreneurship Center, the Wells Fargo Financial Markets Laboratory and the Corky McMillin Center for Real Estate—all made possible by generous gifts from SDSU alumni and donors.

“It is humbling to have an opportunity to join such an outstanding university as San Diego State University, and to be in such a dynamic part of the nation,” Cradit said. “The College of Business Administration is an outstanding institution with a steady record of success and innovation, but it is also clear that those who represent the college, internal and external, are poised to move even higher and farther.  I look forward to getting to work.  We all have a very exciting future ahead of us.”

About J. Dennis Cradit

A native Texan, Cradit has a Ph.D. in cognitive and social psychology from the University of Iowa. He was chair of the marketing department at Florida State University for six years before joining Southern Illinois University.

He led SIU’s efforts to instill innovation and entrepreneurship into the curriculum, writing a plan for campus-wide implementation and integrating the university’s initiatives with regional economic development efforts.

Cradit has also served in the public sector as a member of the Council of Economic Advisers for the Illinois governor’s office and commissioner of the state’s Economic Recovery Commission.