School of Business’ Radosevich honored as inaugural Cofrin Endowed Chair
UW-Green Bay honored the institution’s first-ever Austin E. Cofrin Endowed Chair of Business during Mid-Year Convocation ceremonies Jan. 22.
Associate Prof. David J. Radosevich, chair of UW-Green Bay’s Master’s of Management program, was recognized and presented with a ceremonial medallion during the annual winter gathering of faculty and staff. He began his term as endowed professor Jan. 1, and will serve an initial appointment extending through June 30, 2018. The appointment is renewable on a 3-year basis thereafter.
UW-Green Bay Chancellor Gary L. Miller presided over the medallion ceremony, praising Radosevich’s past achievements while keeping an eye on the future.
“He is someone who will interact effectively and proactively with business leaders, colleagues and key stakeholders,” Miller said. “I am confident his work will honor the innovative legacy of Austin E. Cofrin, and help elevate our School of Business to even higher levels of achievement.”
Cofrin founded the Fort Howard Paper Co. in 1919 and turned the Green Bay-based manufacturer into one of the world’s largest tissue products companies. He died in 1980 at the age of 96. Industry colleagues praised Cofrin for his visionary leadership and resourcefulness in solving problems, achieving efficiencies and anticipating new markets.
It was a desire to more fully honor Austin Cofrin that led his son, Dr. David A. Cofrin, shortly before his death in August 2009, to announce a $5.5 million gift to the University. That contribution, the largest single private gift for academics in school history, provided funding for the endowed chair and other academic enhancements, and led to UW-Green Bay renaming its business program the Austin E. Cofrin School of Business. Taken collectively, Business Administration, Accounting and the Master’s of Management account for about 1,000 students and more than 6,000 alumni, or roughly one-fifth of all current and former students.
Radosevich has been a member of the Business Administration faculty at UW-Green Bay since 2003. He has been a frequent consultant to leading companies in the areas of executive assessment, selection, training, needs assessment, and performance management. Clients have included Wal-Mart, Schering Plough, New York State Police, Bell Atlantic and several other Fortune 500 companies.
His research examines variables in personal motivation and how individuals strive for goals over time. He has published extensively in journals including the Journal of Applied Psychology, International Journal of Business Research, Review of Business Research and Innovate. Additionally, he has studied the impact of technology in the classroom on student learning and satisfaction. He has taught courses in leadership and team development, organizational change and behavior, human resource management, research methods, statistics and psychology.
Radosevich received his bachelor’s in psychology from Western Maryland College in 1994 and his Ph.D. in industrial/organizational psychology from the University at Albany, State University of New York in 1999.
An endowed chair is a faculty position in a focused area of importance to the University. The chair is filled by a distinguished faculty member who has a national or international reputation in his or her field. The other endowed chair at UW-Green Bay is the John P. Blair Endowed Chair in Communication, created in 2005 and filled by Prof. Timothy Meyer until his retirement in 2013, when Prof. Phillip Clampitt was named to the position.
The Austin E. Cofrin School of Business is in the process of joining a select group of national peers by pursuing accreditation through the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Chancellor Miller says the addition of an endowed chair to the program, along with the excellence in teaching, research and community service exemplified by Radosevich and his colleagues, should be positive factors as UW-Green Bay prepares for AACSB review.
