Deborah Merrill-Sands

Faculty and Staff Transitions – Wishing our Colleagues all Success
As we depart for the holidays, I want to once again recognize our faculty and staff who are leaving Paul College at the end of the year and those taking on new positions. Please join me in wishing each of our colleagues success and happiness in the next chapters of their lives.

Nelson Barber – Associate Professor and Chair of the Hospitality Management Department. Nelson is leaving Paul College and UNH at the end of this calendar year. During his 9 years as a faculty member and 4 years as department chair, Nelson has been a strong contributor to the college and his department in all three areas of research, teaching, and service as well as external engagement. He has led the HGMT faculty in instituting numerous changes to the program to make it more competitive in a very challenging market. He has built strong relationships with HGMT alums who are very engaged and supportive of the program. We will miss having him as a member of our faculty and as a leader in the College. I am very grateful to Dan Innis, our former dean and Professor in the Hospitality management program, who will be taking over as the Interim Chair starting in January.

Dan McCarthy – Director, Executive Development Programs. Dan is retiring at the end of this calendar year in order to have more time to pursue his long-time interest in executive coaching, and other pursuits. Dan has served Paul College for 7 years, building the Executive Development Programs under his leadership. Dan contributed to the development of new programming in EDP, such as the consortium program, the Leadership Certificate program, and the current collaboration with the New Hampshire Medical Society Physician leadership program. I am grateful to Principal Lecturer Bill Hassey, who has worked closely with Dan in executive development programming and has agreed to serve as the Interim Director.

Roger Grinde – Associate Professor and Chair, Decision Sciences Department. After many years of administrative service as Associate Dean and subsequently as Chair of the Decision Sciences Department, Roger has decided to return to the faculty after his sabbatical this spring. During his tenure as chair, the Decision Sciences Department has developed a strong focus in business analytics and increased enrollments in the option, developed a successful specialization in the MBA program, and successfully recruited six new tenure-track faculty members to the department. We are very grateful to Roger for his service and we are looking forward to welcoming Associate Professor Khole Gwebu as the next chair of the department beginning in January.

Our new Development Team. Please join me in welcoming three new members to our Development team. Jennifer Lowrey has joined us as the new Managing Director for Development. Jennifer is a seasoned development professional who comes to us with considerable leadership and fundraising experience, including at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. I am delighted to have her join our team and I am looking forward to working with her. In addition, Suzanne Roberge, an alum of our Hospitality Management program with extensive experience in the hospitality industry, joined the team as the Assistant to the Managing Director. Finally, Kevin Connelly is joining us in January in a new position as Annual Giving Officer for Paul College. Kevin has been serving as a Leadership Annual Giving Officer and has worked in alumni donor relations as well. His son Quinn graduated from Paul College last year.