After 17 years at IU Southeast, Frank Wadsworth, former professor of business, is now the new dean of the School of Business at IU Kokomo.
In addition to being a professor at IU Southeast, Wadsworth was also the director of International Programs.
“There is a terrific group of students, staff and faculty at IU Kokomo, and I look forward to helping everyone be successful in the future,” Wadsworth said.
Kokomo, Ind., is about three hours north of New Albany.
“IU Kokomo is about half the size of IUS,” Wadsworth said. “IU Kokomo also sits in a more residential part of Kokomo unlike IUS that sits a little more off by itself.”
For much of 2010, Wadsworth was a visiting professor at the Hanoi School of Business in Vietnam and De La Salle University-Dasmarinas in the Philippines.
Wadsworth’s credentials are extensive. He has a bachelor’s degree in industrial design, a bachelor’s degree in business and farm management from Purdue University and Master of Science in food marketing from Michigan State University. He also has a doctorate in business in marketing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Wadsworth is said to be a “guy’s guy” and a genuine human being by long-time friend Bernardo Carducci, professor of psychology and the director of the Shyness Research Institute.
Carducci said he first met Wadsworth when he turned to him for assistance in statistical analysis.
“Marketing and psychology have a lot to do with each other,” Carducci said.
What cemented their friendship, Carducci said, was when he found out Wadsworth mowed the baseball field at IU Southeast for free. He said this impressed him.
Wadsworth’s son had a lawn-care business and Carducci said Wadsworth would drive his son around and help him with the business.
Eventually, Carducci said Wadsworth started cutting his grass. Carducci said the last thing he wanted to do was get on a ladder and clean his gutters, but Wadsworth didn’t blink an eye.
Carducci said their families then became close and often went to sports games together.
“You’d open a brochure at a game and see an ad for his son’s business,” Carducci said.
Carducci said he remembers Wadsworth as a big family man.
“He’d always be driving one of his kids around to some sporting event,” Carducci said. “He loves his kids. He’s a great father.”
Wadsworth was also a great professor, Carducci said.
“Anything you can do at another university — no matter how big it is — you can do here at IUS,” Carducci said. “Frank understood that.”
Carducci said he’s confident Wadsworth will make a big impression at IU Kokomo but said it’s a big loss for IU Southeast.
“He works harder than everybody else,” Carducci said. “He’s a serious academic.”
Wadsworth said he won’t forget his time at IU Southeast.
“I thank all of the students, staff and faculty at IUS that helped me be successful in my career and made my life better,” he said. “I wish everyone great success in the future.”
By JESSICA WELCH
Staff
welchj@imail.iu.edu
