MSU business dean Bottin announces retirement

Bottin will retire in January 2009, according to an MSU news release. A search for his replacement has begun, with an expected start date between January and July 2009.

Under Bottin’s leadership, COBA and the School of Accountancy earned accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business in 1992 and accreditation reaffirmation in 1997 and 2007. According to the AACSB, 1.6 percent of schools worldwide that offer business programs earn business and accounting accreditation, the release said.

Also during Bottin’s tenure, COBA enrollment increased 47 percent since 1995 to about 4,600 students, and the MBA program grew to 400 students last year from 166 students in 1995. Endowments with the Missouri State Foundation supporting COBA increased to about $14 million now from less than $500,000 when Bottin began.

“Ron has been an outstanding leader for the College of Business Administration, attracting strong faculty, generating significant student demand and working effectively with corporate and individual donors to grow the size and quality of our business school,” MSU Provost Belinda McCarthy said in the release. “His shoes will be very hard to fill.”

Bottin received the Messenger of International Peace award from the Center of Research and Cooperation in La Paz, Bolivia, in 1996, and the International Leadership Service Award from the Academy of Business Administration in Athens, Greece, the same year.

Bottin plans to spend time with family and friends, travel and consider part-time professional opportunities in his retirement, according to the release.