Marquette names next Keyes Dean of Business Administration

MILWAUKEE – Dr. Brian Till, dean of the Williams College of Business at Xavier University, has been named the next James H. Keyes Dean for the College of Business Administration and Graduate School of Management, President Michael R. Lovell announced today. Till will begin in his new role on July 13.

“Dr. Till brings to Marquette a wealth of experience as an administrator, business leader and scholar, all of which position him to advance the College of Business Administration and bring it to a new level of excellence,” said President Michael R. Lovell. “He has a deep understanding of what it means to be a Jesuit business school, and Marquette will benefit greatly from his leadership.”

Till has been dean of the Williams College since 2012. Prior to joining Xavier, he held marketing faculty positions at Drexel University and Saint Louis University, where he spent his last seven years as chair of the marketing department. He has experience with AACSB business school accreditation processes, and is certified in the use and interpretation of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Till has received numerous awards for teaching excellence and was named one of the Top Ten Marketing Teachers in the U.S.

He has also served on several boards, including Forest Releaf of Missouri and Stella Maris Child Center in St. Louis, where he served as board president for four years. In Cincinnati, he has been serving on the boards of Cincinnati Works, the Contemporary Art Center, the Regional Economic Development Initiative and New Edgecliff Theater.

Prior to his academic career, Till worked at Purina as a brand manager. He has served as a marketing strategy, branding and advertising consultant for a variety of organizations, including Monsanto, Energizer, Medicine Shoppe International, Growmark and AT&T. He is co-author of the book The Truth About Creating Brands People Love.

Till holds a bachelor’s degree in advertising and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Ph.D. in marketing from the University of South Carolina.

“I am very pleased to be joining the College of Business Administration at Marquette University as the Keyes Dean,” Till said. “The college and Marquette University both have an excellent reputation, and I look forward to working with the faculty and staff of the college in moving it forward.”

“The College of Business Administration is poised to take a significant step forward as a premier Jesuit business school and a model for educating tomorrow’s business leaders. And Dr. Till is the right person for that job,” said Dr. Daniel Myers, provost-elect. “I want to thank the search committee for its diligence and thoughtfulness in helping select Dr. Till as the next Keyes Dean of Business Administration.”

“We were fortunate to have an excellent pool of candidates for our next dean and Dr. Till rose to the top,” said search committee co-chair Dr. Michael Akers, Horngren Professor and chair of accounting. “The faculty and staff are looking forward to working with him to take the college to new heights.”

Till will succeed Dr. Mark Eppli, who has served as the interim Keyes Dean since August 2012. Over the past three years, Eppli worked closely with the college’s faculty, staff and alumni, as well as business leaders, to forge a new vision for the college.

A renowned commercial real estate scholar who sits on the board of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, Eppli will return to the faculty as a professor of finance and the Robert B. Bell Sr. Chair in Real Estate, positions he has held at Marquette since 2002.

“Mark’s leadership over the past three years is commendable,” Lovell said. “He propelled the college forward in ways that few interim deans can, and Marquette is grateful for that.”

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.