KENNESAW, Ga. | Jan 29, 2019

Business school dean serves as University’s first female chief academic officer

Kennesaw State University President Pamela Whitten has named Kathy “Kat” Schwaig as the University’s fourth provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. Schwaig will assume the role on Feb. 18, 2019.

Schwaig, the Dinos Eminent Scholar Chair of Entrepreneurial Management and professor of information systems, currently serves as the dean of KSU’s Michael J. Coles College of Business, a position she has held since 2012. Schwaig joined the faculty at KSU in 2002, bringing with her more than 20 years of teaching and professional experience.

As provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, Schwaig serves as the University’s chief academic officer and reports to the president. She is responsible for all aspects of the University's academic mission, including the intellectual environment for faculty, students and staff, and planning, budgeting, supervising, and reviewing programs in instruction, research, and continuing education. Schwaig oversees the deans of KSU’s 13 colleges and leads the faculty in their efforts to strengthen academic programs and foster a culture of academic excellence.

“Dr. Schwaig has an undeniable passion for Kennesaw State. Her reputation as an exceptional leader with the ability to create synergies across the University makes her uniquely qualified to serve as KSU’s next chief academic officer,” said Whitten. “I am looking forward to partnering with her as we cement our focus on consistently being a student-centered university as we become one of the nation’s top R2 research universities.”

During her tenure as business school dean, the College’s reputation has risen: the part-time MBA ranked among the top 25 in the nation and first in Georgia among public institutions by Bloomberg Businessweek (2018). CEO magazine (2018) ranked the Executive MBA program first in Georgia and seventh nationally. The Online MBA program was ranked in the Top 20 nationally and first in Georgia by U.S. News and World Report (2019). In addition, Schwaig has led the College’s strategic plan, which focuses on career preparedness for students, connection to industry, and support for faculty research. She led the College through two successful reaccreditation reviews by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International), and was instrumental in bringing $13 million in philanthropic gifts to the College.

“I am grateful to President Whitten for the opportunity to serve as provost and vice president for academic affairs at KSU, the place that I have proudly called my professional home for almost 17 years,” said Schwaig. “KSU has such a bright future, and I’m thrilled to work collaboratively with the faculty, staff, students, and leadership to help KSU achieve its goals.”

Schwaig has held several faculty and leadership roles at the University, including interim and associate dean, interim department chair for the Department of Accounting, and associate professor of information systems at the Coles College. She also served as interim department chair for the Department of Computer Science and Information Systems in the University’s College of Science and Mathematics. Prior to joining Coles, Schwaig held faculty positions at Georgia State University, the University of South Carolina, and Baylor University.

She is an authority on the information privacy and policy formulation, and her research has been published in some of the leading journals in the information systems field, including Information Systems Research, Communications of the ACM and Journal of Management Information Systems.

Active in the community, Schwaig currently serves on the boards of Junior Achievement of Georgia, Mount Paran Christian School, and the Cobb Community Foundation. She has received several awards, including the Oscar Burnett Award for Distinguished Achievement in Business from the Morris Brown College Foundation, the Cobb Executive Women’s Glass Ceiling Award, and Atlanta Magazine’s Women Making a Mark Award.

A native of central Texas, Schwaig earned a BBA in Accounting and an MBA in Information Systems from Baylor University, a Masters of Liberal Arts from Johns Hopkins University, and a Ph.D. in Management Information Systems from the University of South Carolina.

A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees to its more than 47,000 students. Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia with 11 academic colleges. The university’s vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the country and the world. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 7 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.