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Beheruz Sethna
Beheruz Nariman Sethna is a professor of business andretired
sixth President of the University of West Georgia(UWG).
1 Early Life and EducationSethnas educational credentials
include a Bachelors de-gree in Electrical Engineering from the
Indian Instituteof Technology, Bombay (at which institution he has
beennamed a Distinguished Alumnus), an MBA from theIndian Institute
of Management, Ahmedabad (named aDistinguished Alumnus as well), an
M.Phil. and Ph.D.from Columbia University in New York, and
participa-tion in post-doctoral programs at Harvard and Indiana.He
is a Certied Computer Professional and a certiedSix Sigma Green
Belt.
2 Career
2.1 Early career
Sethnas previous work experience includes 13 years atClarkson
University in Potsdam, New York (Carnegieclassication: Research
University with high research ac-tivity; Doctoral, STEMdominant)
and ve years at LamarUniversity in Beaumont, Texas. He held tenured
posi-tions at both institutions and a named professorship atLamar,
in addition to administrative positions of increas-ing
responsibility from the department chair to the exec-utive vice
president levels. He also has signicant cor-porate experience
having worked in major multinationalcompanies in the U.S. and
overseas.
2.2 University of West Georgia
Sethna remains active in teaching and scholarship. Hehas taught
undergraduates every year since arriving atUWG, even while serving
in the University System Of-ce. He was elected Honors Professor of
the Year and be-ing the faculty advisor for student research teams
whichwon the National Social Sciences Association competi-tion, and
for multiple student research teams which havereceived national
recognition at the National CollegiateHonors Council and the
National Council for Undergrad-uate Research. Seven of his courses
(including the one hecurrently teaches) have won recognition in
instructional
innovation in nationwide competitions. He is the authoror
co-author of a book and 69 papers, more than 25 ofwhich have been
after becoming President.Sethna was the catalyst for many of the
changes that el-evated UWG from a liberal arts college of 7,947
stu-dents in 1993-94 to an institution with full university sta-tus
whose full-time equivalent enrollment has grown by50 percent since
his arrival. It has also conferred morethan 20 doctoral degrees in
the past year, including itsrst Ph.D.[1]
President Sethna has held several board memberships andhas
chaired boards and committees at the state, regionaland national
levels. For example, he has served on theBoard of Directors of the
Georgia Chamber of Com-merce and the Georgia Partnership for
Excellence in Ed-ucation; he has completed a two-year term as Chair
of theBoard of the Atlanta Regional Council for Higher Edu-cation
(ARCHE); and he is the past Chair of the Boardof the Gulf South
Conference (GSC) and the Policiesand Purposes Committee of the
American Association ofState Colleges and Universities (AASCU). He
also servesas AASCUs national Chair of Asian-American
Presi-dents.In 2012, Dr. Sethna announced his retirement as
Presi-dent after 19 years of service to University of West
Geor-gia. His retirement came in eect June 30, 2013. Hecontinues at
UWG as professor of business administra-tion and intends to spend
summers teaching English andscience at Balgram, an orphanage school
in India.[2]
Notable Accomplishments During Presidency
Elevated UWGs reputation such that it was recog-nized for the
rst time byU.S. News &World Reportmagazine in 2012 as the
Souths #46 public univer-sity and #91 regional (public and private)
university
Became the rst known person of Indian origin tobecome president
of a university in the U.S. and therst person of any ethnic
minority to become pres-ident of a college or university in Georgia
(beyondan HBCU)
Awarded more degrees than every other presidentialadministration
combined
Created Georgias rst and only Board-approvedHonors College and
the Advanced Academy (forexceptionally-gifted students to complete
their last
1
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2 4 REFERENCES
two years of high school and rst two years of col-lege
simultaneously); Academy students have goneto the best universities
in the world, such as Yaleand Oxford, and one alumnus earned his MD
atage 21
Obtained the universitys rst endowed chair andrst major
endowment to name a college
Won approval for UWGs rst four doctoral pro-grams; awarded the
rst Ph.D. in University Systemof Georgia history outside of the
four research uni-versities and awarded UWGs rst honorary
doctor-ate degrees
Increased FTE enrollment by approximately 50%with very signicant
increases in admission stan-dards (for example, in 1994, 51% of the
enteringfreshman class required remedial education, and to-day, it
is a fractional percentage)
Increased UWGs investment in students, faculty,and technology by
several million dollars (approx-imately 90% of UWGs current faculty
memberswere hired during this tenure)
Added more facilities square footage than everyother previous
presidential administration com-bined in its 107-year history
Increased both land holdings and academic facilitiessquare
footage by more than 70%
Recognized seven times for instructional innovationby the
Decision Sciences Institute a national record
Served as the research advisor for ~40 studentswhose research
projects were selected for one ormore national-level presentations;
in addition, hisstudents garnered three rst prizes in the past
decadefor undergraduate research at the National SocialSciences
Association
2.3 University System of Georgia
He has twice served (in 1999-2000, and 200607) as In-terim
Executive/Senior Vice Chancellor for the Univer-sity System of
Georgia with responsibility for AcademicAairs, Student Aairs,
Instructional/Information Tech-nology, and Planning for 35 Research
and Comprehen-sive Universities and Access Institutions, 260,000
stu-dents, and 10,000 faculty. Additionally, in 2006-07, hehad line
responsibility with the Presidents of all 15 Com-prehensive
Universities reporting to him, accounting forabout 40% of the
public sector student enrollment in theentire state of Georgia.
2.4 Honors and Awards Named among the 100 Most Inuential
Georgianssix times: 2003, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012
Recognized as the University System of GeorgiaChancellors 2012
Customer Service President andInstitution of the Year
Received a Resolution of Commendation from theGeorgia Board of
Regents for service to the Univer-sity System as Interim
Executive/Senior Vice Chan-cellor
Awarded a Resolution of Commendation from theSenate of the State
of Georgia
Earned the Cornerstone Award from the Board ofRegents of the
University System of Georgia
Elected Honors Professor of the Year by the Honorsstudents
Named the second ever recipient of the CarrollCounty Chamber of
Commerces Thomas S. Up-church Workforce Education Award
2.5 Of NoteSethna is the rst person of Indian origin ever to
becomePresident of an American university.[3] He is also the
rstperson of any ethnic minority to become President of acollege or
university in Georgia other than a HistoricallyBlack one.
3 PersonalHe has been married for more than 38 years to Dr.
Mad-havi Sethna, a UWG faculty member who has earned herMBA,MA,MS
and Ed.D. They have two children: AnitaSethna, MD, a Facial
Plastics and Board-certied ENTsurgeon who heads the Emory Facial
Center and is a grad-uate of Georgia Tech and Emory University
School ofMedicine; and Shaun Sethna, JD, Senior Counsel -
In-tellectual Property for technology and nancial servicescompany
in Houston, who is a graduate of Georgia Techand Columbia Law
School.
4 References[1] UWG President Announces Retirement. University
of
West Georgia. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
[2] UWG President Announces Retirement. University ofWest
Georgia. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
[3]
http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/your_columbians/beheruz_sethna.html
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35 External links Sethnas Prole at UWGs website Dr. Sethna
Receives Chancellors Gold Award Beheruz Sethna among '100 Most
Inuential Geor-gians
How Beheruz Sethna Won the West Sethnas Prole at Columbia
Universitys C250 Interview with Sethna by Kavita Chhibber
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4 6 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES
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