CLARION – Clarion University College of Business Administration has welcomed Dr. Phil Frese as dean of the college. The position was previously held by Dr. James Pesek, who retired in spring of 2012.
Frese, who was chief executive officer of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Newark, N.J., prior to coming to Clarion, said it was, first and foremost, the faculty and their enthusiasm in providing a quality education that attracted him to Clarion University’s College of Business Administration.
“What CoBA has done over the years has been quite impressive,” Frese said. He pointed specifically to its Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business accreditations and to its active online degree programs.
Before his work with Catholic Charities, Frese was dean of the school of business at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut and led the school through the AACSB International accreditation process. He had also been a member of the faculty and administration of Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J.
It had been Frese’s plan to return to academia, and accepting the dean position at Clarion allows him to do that, blending the academic and business skills he has honed in different facets of his career.
Frese’s goals are to build upon the well-formed foundation already in place and to integrate Clarion University Small Business Development Center into the curriculum. He wants to investigate the possibility of adding new programming in the area of not for profit and of working with the other Clarion University colleges to develop curriculum that will merge a business degree with other concentrations. He also wants to explore the possibility of having satellite campuses between Clarion and Pittsburgh, and of developing new programs to attract students.
“The provost and the president share a vision and desire to move the CoBA up another level, and I am very excited to be a part of that,” Frese said.
Frese and his wife, Estelle, have relocated to Clarion with their Yorkie, Princess. In his spare time, he enjoys golf, walking and fishing. His new recreational challenge is to learn fly fishing techniques and to pursue steelhead trout in Elk Creek. The Freses have an adult son and an adult daughter.2