By Larne Boyles

GIA has appointed Mink Stavenga as the new dean for the School of Business. He will oversee the department as it continues to expand in both the On Campus and Distance Education areas in this position.

“Mink is an excellent candidate to lead the GIA School of Business as he brings a wealth of experience from his longtime tenure as dean at an international university,” said Brook Ellis, vice president of GIA Education. “The gem and jewelry industry is a global industry, so his widespread knowledge of international business education and extensive leadership experience are great assets for our School of Business.”

Stavenga has been a dean at Alliant International University, formerly called United States International University (USIU), in San Diego, California, since 1986. Prior to joining GIA, his most recent position was systemwide dean, where he oversaw the college of business program at all six of Alliant’s California campuses.

Stavenga’s international interests can be traced to his childhood. Originally of Dutch heritage, he was born in Casablanca, Morocco, in 1957 and moved at the age of 2 to Ghana, on the southern coast of West Africa. He lived there until he completed high school.

“Living in Ghana was a wonderful experience,” Stavenga said. “I grew up surrounded by people from all over the world, which unbeknownst to me at the time, really shaped how my career would unfold years later.”

Stavenga recognized the growing impact personal computers were going to have on the future by the time he finished high school in the mid-1970s, so he decided  to attend the University of Kent at Canterbury, England, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science with a minor in cybernetics. Not long after graduating in 1978, however, he realized he wasn’t satisfied with his decision.

“Computer science had a lot of theoretical ideology, but I saw a need for learning the more practical aspects of a running business,” he said.

He moved to the United States in 1979 to attend USIU to study international business and developed an interest in teaching as he worked on his master’s degree. He wanted real world experience, however, so he went to work as an international financial consultant for Interbeton in Qatar, vice president of Finance and Marketing for Walsh Enterprises in San Diego and chief financial officer for Alhamrani Group of Companies in Saudi Arabia.

He returned to USIU to earn his Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.) degree in finance in 1984, which soon rekindled his desire to teach. The degree also allowed him to work as a professor. He began to teach at USIU in January of 1986, before moving on to more administrative duties as assistant dean the following year. By 1989, he was acting dean, responsible for the strategic direction and management of the school.

“I’ve been a student, a professor, a dean – I know all aspects of running a school from the bottom up,” Stavenga said. “I look forward to bringing these skills to GIA because I see us building a comprehensive School of Business tailored to the needs of the gem and jewelry industry.”