When Georgios Bakamitsos (pictured left) arrived in New Orleans, La., to teach marketing at Tulane University he got an education he never expected. It was August 2005, and he hadn’t even had time to settle into his new job before Hurricane Katrina came calling.

“The marketing department went from nine people to four overnight because of Katrina,” Bakamitsos said, and instead of being focused on growing the department, “we had to learn how to rebuild an institution in crisis.” It was his first foray into higher education administration.

At times, the staff and faculty did not know whether the university would ever re-open. “We were revamping an M.B.A. program at a time when every decision, even small ones, could seriously affect the future of the institution,” he said. “We had to make sure we provided the right courses and that our decisions would not keep students from graduating. We didn’t want the students to suffer any more.”

Tulane did re-open and Bakamitsos helped to direct and implement new programs for both marketing and the business school. In fact, for the last two years he was assistant dean and directed the Stewart Center for Executive Education (similar to Stetson’s EMBA program).

“The executive education program at Tulane is a mini-business school within the business school,” Bakamitsos said. “I managed programs in multiple locations: New Orleans and Houston, where we competed with Rice, University of Texas, Texas A&M and the University of Houston.”

Now the associate dean for Graduate Business Studies at Stetson, Bakamitsos is eager to begin working on that school’s graduate programs. After completing a program audit, Bakamitsos will decide the most appropriate offerings based on mission and core competencies and then redeploy resources most effectively for the greatest outcomes.

“I sense that people at Stetson have a strong connection to the university,” said Bakamitsos about his decision to come to Stetson, “and that is key to success. Stetson pays attention to quality. Scale is important but quality is more important, and we have to ensure we grow the scale without compromising the quality.” Bakamitsos plans to work with the College of Law in Gulfport to offer joint programs and to establish more of a presence in Tampa.

“Georgios clearly stood head and shoulders over the other 70 national candidates we had for this position displaying the experience, vision, and ability to help lead our graduate programs to national and global recognition,” said Tom Schwarz, dean of the School of Business Administration. “Georgios is at the forefront of our recently developed strategic focus to expand the significance of our graduate programs into preeminence along the mega I-4 corridor.”

“I tell friends back home what sets Stetson apart is that it has class,” said Bakamitsos. “It’s small but visible nationally and internationally, and recognized for excellence in many areas. The quality of the programs and the learning experience for students is very important to me.”

With an M.B.A. and Ph.D. in marketing, Bakamitsos’ primary research focus is in consumer behavior. His current work examines context effects and explores two key themes: affect and technology. He is currently working on two manuscripts for the Journal of Consumer Research and has four other research works in progress.

“Associate Dean Bakamitsos exemplifies Stetson’s core values and high aspirations.  It is an honor and pleasure to welcome him to the Stetson community,” said Beth Paul, provost and vice president of Academic Affairs.

Bakamitsos will be working from the Stetson University Center at Celebration in Celebration, Fla.