Meet the Deans
The College of Business Administration at the University of Tennessee is committed to excellence in providing the best and most innovative business education. Our Deans represent various business disciplines (management, marketing, accounting, economics) yet work together as a single collaborative group. By their actions they reinforce the College’s focus on disciplinary integration, teamwork, and innovation. They provide the necessary support for the ongoing success of the college, its students, faculty and staff. Moreover, they bring with them the energy, dedication, and commitment to implement the College’s vision to be an innovative force in business education for the 21st century.
Jan Williams Sarah Gardial Tom Ladd Alex Miller
Dean Jan Williams
Jan R. Williams is Dean of the College of Business Administration and the Pilot Chair of Excellence in Leadership at the University of Tennessee where he has been a faculty member since 1977. He received a B.S. degree from George Peabody College, an MBA from Baylor University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas. He previously served on the faculties at the University of Georgia and Texas Tech University. He is the former head of UT's Department of Accounting and Information Management. He is a CPA in Tennessee and Arkansas. Currently, he is the co-author of three books and has published over 70 articles and other publications on issues of corporate financial reporting and accounting education.
Dr. Williams has been extensively involved in professional accounting and business organizations. He served as president of the American Accounting Association in 1999-2000 and also has been actively involved in Beta Alpha Psi, the Tennessee Society of CPAs, and the American Institute of CPAs. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Association to Advance College Schools of Business (AACSB) International, the accrediting organization for business schools and accounting programs.
Dean Sarah Gardial
Sarah Gardial is Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Beaman Professor of Business at the College of Business Administration, University of Tennessee. She earned her undergraduate and MBA degrees in Marketing from the University of Arkansas, and her Ph.D. in Marketing from the University of Houston. Her primary expertise and research interests are in the areas of customer value and satisfaction, the decision processes of customers and consumers, and buyer-seller relationships. With Bob Woodruff, she is the co-author of Know Your Customer: New Perspectives on Customer Value and Satisfaction. This book is based upon several years of research conducted in partnership with a variety of business organizations. She has also written numerous articles for journal publications and conferences, including the Journal of Consumer Research, the Journal of Advertising, and Industrial Marketing Management.
Sarah has received several teaching awards over the years and has taught in undergraduate, graduate, Ph.D. and management development programs. She has also conducted training and workshops for several industry organizations, including Procter and Gamble, Eastman Chemicals, and TRW.
Dean Tom Ladd
Robert T. (Tom) Ladd, Ph.D. is the Associate Dean of Research and Technology at the University of Tennessee College of Business Administration. His role is to provide leadership in framing and supporting the college’s research agenda, and manage the initiation and use of technology in the college’s teaching, research, and administrative processes.
A Tennessee native, he received both his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Tennessee Technological University and his doctorate from the University of Georgia. His interests encompass the general areas of personnel management, psychological measurement, and research methodology. He is currently pursuing research in multidimensional employee selection techniques with an emphasis in assessment centers.
Tom is a licensed psychologist and has been associated with the Industrial and Organizational Psychology Program since joining the university 31 years ago; he recently directed the program for seven years before becoming associate dean. Tom has taught in both the undergraduate and MBA programs, has directed 18 dissertations, and has served on over 100 doctoral committees. External to the university, he serves as a Director of the Tennessee Assessment Center (TAC), which conducts employee appraisals as part of employers’ employee selection and promotion programs. The college’s executive MBA programs have incorporated several of TAC’s assessment exercises within its leadership development curriculum.
Tom is active with the Boy Scouts of America, having served in several roles in the local council. He currently serves on its Executive board and chairs a strategic planning committee. Tom also enjoys woodworking, singing in his church’s choir, electrical work and home remodeling.
Dean Alex Miller
Alex Miller, Ph.D. is the Dean of the Center for Executive Education and the William B. Stokely Professor of Management at the University of Tennessee’s College of Business Administration. He received his undergraduate education at Tennessee Technological University and he holds graduate degrees from Dartmouth College and the University of Washington. Since receiving his doctorate, he has completed additional coursework at MIT, Harvard, and Cal Tech.
Alex has been the principal investigator on more than 20 research grants, authored or co-authored four books and numerous articles, and won five teaching awards from the University. He has consulted with over 100 organizations ranging from Fortune 500 manufacturing firms to small non-profit service organizations. He was also the Citibank Visiting Scholar to India and a Visiting Research Professor at the Cranfield Institute of Technology in England.
Alex was the founder of The Aerospace Executive MBA program, the first accredited MBA program to focus exclusively on the aerospace industry. His current research is looking at ways of rebuilding the business case for aerospace given the tremendous challenges facing the industry.
Alex is proud to be a seventh generation East Tennessean, and the father of four. He and his wife live on their farm in New Market, Tennessee where they operate the Lick Skillet Cattle Co., and he was voted Outstanding Cattleman of the Year in 2002 by the Tennessee Cattleman’s Association. As avocations, Alex trains border collies. He is an instrument-rated pilot who flies a vintage Cessna 182.