Announcing the New Dean for the Lucas College and Graduate School of Business
Sent: April 24, 2023
From: Vincent J. Del Casino, Jr., Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
Dear Colleagues,
I am very pleased to announce that Dr. Rangapriya (Priya) Kannan will join San José
State University as the next dean of the Lucas College and Graduate School of Business.
She will begin her appointment on August 1st. Dr. Kannan joins SJSU at a pivotal time
in its history, as we continue to elevate the position of Lucas on the campus and
in the wider San José community. Dr. Kannan has a passion for the mission of SJSU
and Lucas, and I am incredibly excited to begin our work together.
Dr. Kannan is currently the Associate Dean of Faculty & Accreditation at the University
of San Diego’s Knauss School of Business and a Professor of Strategic Management,
Innovation & Entrepreneurship. Prior to being Associate Dean, Dr. Kannan was the inaugural
chairperson of the i3 department that houses Innovation & Entrepreneurship, International
Business, & Interdisciplinary Studies at the Knauss School of Business. She is also
the founder director of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Catalyzer (The CatalyZer)
and serves as a research professor of entrepreneurship at University of Exeter Business
School, one of the UK’s leading institutions.
Prior to coming to academia, Dr. Kannan worked in industry in India as well as Silicon
Valley. She has extensive experience in leading strategic change, interdisciplinary
program design, alumni and community engagement, employee development, and creating
inclusive workspaces. Her primary teaching and research focus is on how individuals
engage in creative resourcing and reframing to accomplish their innovations under
constraints. She has papers published in innovation and strategy outlets such as the
Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Organization
Studies, Research and Technology Management, Oxford Research Encyclopedia, & Journal
of Business Ethics.
During her career, Dr. Kannan has earned several awards recognizing her excellence
in research, teaching and for her contributions to institution building, including
the prestigious Clarence L. Steber Professorship, a distinguished university award
at USD. She was recognized as Poets & Quants’ Top 50 Undergraduate Business Professors in the country in 2020 for her teaching excellence. She has also won San Diego Businesswoman of the Year in 2020 and SD 500 San Diego Most Influential Business Leaders in 2021 and 2022 by the San Diego Business Journal. In addition, Dr. Kannan was a
visiting research fellow at the Cambridge Judge Business School.
Dr. Kannan received her PhD from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. She earned
her Masters in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from San José State University,
where she was also a Sally Casanova Scholar. She has a Masters in Personnel Management
& Industrial Relations from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (India) and is a graduate
of the Cost and Works Accountants Society (India). She has an undergraduate Bachelor
of Commerce degree from University of Bombay (India).
Dr. Kannan now brings all that experience, and her passion for SJSU as an alumni,
to our campus and wider community. She does so as the first woman and first person
of Indian descent to lead the college on a permanent basis. Her energy, vision, and
strategic approach to faculty development, undergraduate and graduate education, and
the research enterprise will make her an outstanding addition to SJSU.
I want to very much thank Dr. Marco Pagani for his ongoing leadership during this
transition period as well. He is an outstanding leader as well as college and campus
citizen.
Sincerely,
Vin
