After serving as the interim chair of DePaul University’s Department of Management & Entrepreneurship for the last year, the school has announced that Dan Heiser has received a three-year assignment to become full chair.Heiser is also an associate professor in the Driehaus College of Business, teaching supply chain management and project management. He previously served as associate dean, leading the college’s global engagement, including oversight of graduate degree-abroad programs in Bahrain, Taiwan and the Czech Republic.
Heiser sees the value in international education and economies, having taught in places like Bahrain, Chile, Czech Republic, China, Finland, Germany, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates. His supply-chain research has appeared in the International Journal of Operations and Production Management, Supply Chain Management, International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management and Strategic Outsourcing: An International Journal.
Heiser, who is celebrating his 20th year teaching at DePaul, is excited to bring his impressive educational background and passion for studying global engagement to the leadership of the management department. In a recent Q&A with the school, Heiser discussed how his various professional and academic experiences have helped prepare him for his new role. Here are some excerpts from that interview:
What do you have planned for the department?
“Right now we are working on different projects with the College of Computing and Digital Media to discover how we can marry not only technology and innovation, but also the skills we bring as managers. Entrepreneurship across the curriculum is another place where there is enormous potential for cross-college collaboration and cross-department collaboration. One of my goals is to have us looking outside and viewing these opportunities. Certainly they are challenges for the way we have done business in the past, but there are tremendous opportunity for growth.”
Why is now a good time to study management at DePaul?
“Relevancy—we want to make sure what we are teaching in the classroom applies to what our graduates will be experiencing out there in the real world. We have amazing faculty that bring experiential learning from the local community into the classroom. We are introducing new methodologies, offering more online classes, and giving our students more hands-on, applied activities. We want our students to recognize that as they proceed in their careers, they will be dealing with people from different cultures and socio-economic issues, and how we can find that commonality and work together to achieve our goals. We are dedicated to making our students career ready.”
Click here to read the full interview.