Deb Bauer is the new academic director for the Oregon Executive MBA. She takes over the role from Dave Preston, who served for the past 12 months and will continue to play a key role during the upcoming academic year when he will team up with Jennie Leander to teach a new, three-term leadership course for the program's first-year students.

Thanks to her work at the Oregon Executive MBA and her longstanding career at the Lundquist College of Business, Bauer is an ideal choice for academic director. Her professional experience makes her exceptionally well qualified to understand the unique needs of executive MBA students and how these fit into the overall vision of business education at the Lundquist College of Business. As academic director, Bauer will lead the Oregon Executive MBA's academic committee, collaborating with the program's leadership to promote and enhance its teaching and learning culture.

Bauer's teaching career at the Lundquist College began in 1999, when she served as a graduate teaching fellow while pursuing her master's degree in finance. In 2001, she started working for the college as instructor of finance. In 2005, the UO honored Bauer with its Ersted Award for Distinguished Teaching, a university-wide recognition for faculty members who have demonstrated early career excellence. She became a senior instructor of finance in 2008 and in 2013 she received a named appointment as the Peter and Molly Powell Distinguished Senior Instructor II of Finance. From 2012 to 2017, she served as director of the Lundquist College Honors Program.

In addition to her new duties at the Oregon Executive MBA, Bauer will continue to work in Eugene, leading the Lundquist College's online initiatives as well as teaching finance courses at the undergraduate level.

Bauer will also continue to teach financial analysis to first-year students at the Oregon Executive MBA. Her teaching has received consistently high ratings, and in 2018 she was one of four faculty members to be recognized with the program's prestigious Excellence in Teaching award.

With Bauer taking on this new role, the Oregon Executive MBA looks forward to further elevating its teaching and learning culture while continuing to strengthen the program's collaboration with the Lundquist College as a whole.