New CCU Business Dean Takes Stock of Challenges: Q&A

By Emma Ritch, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Mar. 4–Coastal Carolina University’s newly hired business school dean says moving to the Carolinas will be a homecoming of sorts, even though he’s never lived here.

Henry Lowenstein, who will take over the vacant position July 2, brings years of university and business experience to the area. But he likens his role at CCU of educating students and developing opportunities to what America did for his family when they escaped from “tyranny” in Europe.

“The Lowensteins landed in America over 100 years ago at the port of Wilmington, N.C.,” he said. “My great-grandparents lived and are buried there. I feel a great sense of kinship with the people of this area and a return to family roots; returning an education gift and appreciation for the freedoms my family enjoyed.”

Lowenstein has been greatly involved in his community of Bakersfield, Calif., where he’s served as business dean since 2000. His wife, Carla Grabert-Lowenstein, is the senior deputy district attorney of Kern County, Calif. She is applying to the S.C. Bar in the hopes of acquiring a similar position here.

The couple has already bought a home in Conway, close enough to the university for faculty to stop by for drinks, he jokes.

Question — What attracted you to CCU’s business school?

Answer — The Wall School has established a strong regional and growing national reputation for excellence. Former Dean (now President) Dave DeCenzo has steadily improved the faculty, caliber of the programs and the service to the community and students. The college is AACSB Internationally accredited with unique programs and an outstanding student focus. The mission of the school, its location and desire to move to higher levels of excellence make it a mutually ideal fit for CCU and me at this time.

Q — The college has been without a permanent dean since May. How will things change when you take on your new role?

A — The current associate deans have done an excellent job of maintaining the high quality of the school during this time period. The main thing I think people will see is that I will be very engaged with the business community and very visible in working to continue to build bridges between the Wall College, area businesses, government and nonprofit organizations. The Wall College will have strategic leadership focus. We will work to enhance the already growing international relationships and expand Wall’s name within the AACSB International business school community. In addition to working with the community, I will be engaging with the fine Wall College faculty to develop our strategic directions and find new areas of value to the faculty, students and area community. This will be an ongoing collaborative process.

Q — What will you miss about California?

A — We will certainly miss the many friends and associates developed over the years. Bakersfield is very much a place with a great sense of community just like Conway. We have worked in many areas to help improve the quality of life here; with close relationships with many dedicated government, business and civic leaders. We will miss them but know we will also be expanding our friendships with the people of Horry County and South Carolina. We may actually miss the periodic Earth shifting under our feet and definitely miss authentic Mexican food.

Q — What strengths and areas of expertise do you bring?

A — With over 30 years’ administrative and leadership experience in business, government and nonprofit organizations as well as the academic credentials, I feel I bring a unique combination of skills and knowledge to CCU to help the campus, college and our faculty advance the quality of education, our service to the community and ultimately carry further the “Coastal Advantage” in higher education. My active work and leadership in AACSB International will help the college in its continuous improvement efforts, in maintaining accreditation and in raising the profile of the Wall College and CCU beyond its strong regional reputation. But ultimately this is a team effort; the confidence and support I am already receiving from the CCU administration, my colleagues across campus and the Wall faculty and staff are what ultimately will make the positive difference in the future.

Q — What initial changes do you hope to make at CCU? What about in the long term?

A — It is too early to talk about “changes” until I have a chance to meet with faculty, administration and our stakeholders and thoroughly review the college. CCU has a new president, DeCenzo … who has a vision of excellence for the college and campus. We will all be engaging in lots of initial conversations from which will flow very positive directions for the campus and Wall College that have the support of all involved and the public we serve. Stay tuned.

Q — What are the strengths and weaknesses of CCU’s business school?

A — As with the question on “changes,” as new dean I will need time to meet with key administrators, stakeholders, advisory board members, faculty and staff to assess our status. In my brief time examining CCU and the Wall College, I can say that it has an impressive quality and strong reputation regionally. The campus, however, aspires to raise that reputation beyond the region. Our strong international partnerships, accredited membership in AACSB International and the changing nature of investment and economic development in the region suggest steps on our part to raise the profile of CCU. At Wall College that would include success of the newly launched MBA program, increased faculty scholarship, advancing key niche programs, and continued success in hiring and retaining high quality faculty.

Certainly another area of attention will be financial support. CCU, as with other public universities, is not immune to the fact that the state provides funding to be a good university but external support to supplement the state and tuition revenue is critical if we are to achieve becoming a great university.

The community CCU serves has been generous throughout its history, and we seek ways to maintain, increase that support, and bring in new support from alumni and investors to our community.

Q — How will you get involved with the community here?

A — Carla and I seem to naturally gravitate to community involvement wherever we go. We made our investment clear to folks in Conway. The day after we received the offer from CCU, we purchased a beautiful home in Conway, five minutes from campus. (Makes it easy for faculty members and colleagues to stop by for a beer!) Certainly, my intention is to be actively involved in the area chamber of commerce and groups involved with economic development of the area. We are moving this summer and once we get settled and acclimated, I am sure there will be many interesting community service opportunities for us to consider.

Q — How do you plan to work with the business community in Horry County to benefit them, your faculty and students?

A — The success of any business program is its bridging of theory with practice, its systematic relationship with employers and stakeholders. This has been a hallmark of the programs I headed in Bakersfield. Wall College is blessed with an outstanding Board of Visitors. I have met many of them, and they have been gracious in their welcome. I intend to seek their counsel on where we can be most effective with them. One of the most powerful combinations in business education is to find projects and initiatives that become service learning opportunities for students (such as internships), provide research that is used by faculty for scholarship and provides direct benefits to local businesses, and additional resources to the Wall College to advance further efforts. I and the college’s staff will be looking for more of those opportunities as we go along. At this early date I am already discussing some potential alliances with a business person who I know who is in the process of working on a project in the area.

Coastal Carolina University is an exciting place, at an exciting time, with exciting new leadership. I hope to help foster within the Wall College a sense of initiative, innovation, striving for excellence in an enjoyable, professional atmosphere, that will serve CCU and the area well for many years to come.

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Henry Lowenstein

Age — 53

Hobbies — Classical music; opera; travel; avid reader of history, law and literature

Hometown — Danville, Va.

Education — Doctorate in Labor and Industrial Relations from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; MBA in Transportation from George Washington University; B.S. in Business Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University

Family — Wife, Carla Grabert-Lowenstein; daughter Jennifer Lowenstein, 22; daughter Sarah Lowenstein, 20.

Work experience — Current dean of the School of Business and Public Administration at California State University and current corporate director of Tri-Valley Corp., an AMEX-listed corporation that is an energy and minerals exploration company based in Bakersfield, Calif.

Contact EMMA RITCH at 444-1722 or eritch@thesunnews.com [mailto:eritch@thesunnews.com].

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Copyright (c) 2007, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

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