CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — William R. Bryan, a veteran University of Illinois finance professor, has been named interim dean of the College of Commerce and Business Administration, effective Aug. 1.
The current dean, Howard Thomas, is leaving to become dean of the Warwick Business School in England. Thomas had been dean of the UI college for eight years.
Bryan, 68, has worked at the Urbana-Champaign campus for 30 years as a professor of finance, chair of the finance department, and associate dean for college research. He currently is interim associate dean of the MBA program.
Between 1995 and 1999, Bryan was dean of the School of Business Administration at Loyola University in Chicago. He retired from Loyola in 1999.
A native of Muncie, Ind., Bryan received his bachelor’s degree in history and English at Ball State University and a doctorate in economics from the University of Wisconsin.
Before joining the UI faculty in 1966, Bryan was a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank in St. Louis. Bryan will serve as interim dean until the position is permanently filled.
A nationwide search for the next dean is in progress.
