Johnson named interim dean for Williams College of Business

With the departure of Dr. Ali Maleksadeh, former dean of the Williams College of Business, Dr. R. Stafford Johnson is stepping up as the interim dean through July 2012.

Malekzadeh left Xavier University last April for a dean and board position at Kansas State University.

Johnson, who received his Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky, is a finance professor as well as the Director of the Center for Applied Finance.

Johnson has worked at Xavier since 1982 and has served as Finance Department Chair from 1988 to 1998.

"I've been…involved in many college and university-related activities over the years," Johnson said in an e-mail correspondence.

"When asked to be the interim dean, I thought I had the experience and knowledge of the college and university to serve…I also was very honored to be asked."

Johnson's interest in finance has led him to write five monographs, four books and to participate in the writing of more than 50 academic articles.

Although he now teaches finance, his doctoral degree is in economics.

"As an economist, I considered finance to be a study of the fundamentals underlying the capital market system, which I found to be intellectually intriguing," Johnson said.

"Like economics, I also found finance to be a challenging subject, requiring one to have some knowledge of math, statistics, accounting, economics, law, history and other disciplines."

Overall, Johnson said he has certainly enjoyed his time working at Xavier.

His favorite part of Xavier is "the Xavier family: faculty, students, staff, administrators, alum and community that all love what Xavier and Jesuit education mean and who are brought together with a common desire to advance the Xavier mission."