Longtime La Salle Accounting Professor Paul R. Brazina Named Interim Dean of School of Business at La Salle University

Paul R. Brazina, a longtime La Salle University professor and frequent business consultant, has been named interim dean of the University’s School of Business, effective Sept. 1, 2005.

Brazina arrived at La Salle in 1974 to teach accounting. As Lindback Award winner for teaching excellence, He has taught financial accounting, fraud examination, and auditing in the school’s undergraduate and MBA programs. He replaces Gregory O. Bruce, who had been Dean since 1994. Bruce will remain on the faculty in the school’s Management Department.

In recent years, Brazina has been CFO of a New York Stock Exchange company and been an expert witness in court cases. He is currently a consultant with Rosenfelt, Siegel & Goldberg, a C.P.A. firm in Bala Cynwyd.

Brazina, his wife, Shelly, and their four children live in Merion Station.

At La Salle, he founded the Electronic Commerce Institute and the E-Commerce Certificate program (which are open to all La Salle students, regardless of major).

“Transitions in leadership always bring the unexpected, but La Salle is exceptionally fortunate to have someone like Paul Brazina to serve as Interim Dean,” said Dr. Richard Nigro, Provost of La Salle. “He is highly credible with both the business community and within academe and is regarded as energetic and fair-minded by the faculty. There will no ‘chair-warming’ with Paul at the helm.”

Brazina said he will not apply for the permanent Dean’s position. “I like teaching too much,” he said. He wanted to be the Interim Dean to initiate several programs and ideas “that have the full support of the faculty and the provost,” and wants to see continued by the next Dean.

Included in his plans is starting an Applied Research Center at the School, in which faculty would consult with area businesses, who in turn would send employees to work with faculty and students on educational projects.

Already, an anonymous donor has contributed seed money for the center. “I want to tap into the expertise of our faculty at La Salle,” Brazina said. “I want to identify the strengths we have and use that as a launching pad for them to consult with government- and city-based business activities.” The center would be self-sufficient, he said, receiving grants and fees for research projects.

He also wants to have the school’s faculty conduct continuing education programs for companies whose employees need to upgrade their skills. “We have really good teachers, and there’s no reason why they can’t conduct those programs. That would generate revenue for the school and create partnerships with businesses, leading to internship and employment possibilities for our students.”