Beheruz N. Sethna

Beheruz N. Sethna

Regents' Professor of Marketing

Contact info

Curriculum Vitae [PDF]

Regents' Professor of Marketing

Biography

Dr. Beheruz N. Sethna is Regents’ Professor of Business and President Emeritus of The University of West Georgia (UWG). During his 19-year presidential tenure, UWG grew from a college with ~7,500 students to a doctoral degree-granting, SACS-Level-VI university (the highest level) with ~12,000 students, and is now classified as a Doctoral University (moderate research activity).

Shared accomplishments include: UWG increased full time enrollment by ~50%, land by more than 70%, square footage by more than 100%. UWG added more square footage than every other previous presidential administration combined in UWG’s 107-year history at a cost of ~$330M. UWG’s endowment grew by more than 10 times.

UWG acquired its first major endowment to name an academic college, started its first four doctoral programs, created Georgia’s first and only Board-approved Honors College and Advanced Academy, and awarded more degrees than every other presidential administration combined.

He served twice as Interim Executive/Senior Vice Chancellor for the University System of Georgia. He has been awarded Resolutions of Commendation from the Georgia Governor, Senate, House, and Board of Regents, and has been named among the 100 Most Influential Georgians six times. 

He is the first person of Indian origin ever to become president of a US university.

The Carnegie Corporation has named him a “Great Immigrant – Pride of America.”

Guiding Undergraduate Research: Since 2003, 136 UWG students have had their work from Dr. Sethna’s classes accepted for presentation to at least one national conference; some to more than one, for a total of 214 national presentation “lines” on their resumes.

He credits his parents, his wife, Dr. Madhavi Sethna, and his two children (a doctor and an attorney), and three grandchildren.

Education / Degrees

  • BS, B. Tech. (Honors) Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, 1971
  • M.B.A., Master of Business Administration, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, 1973
  • M. Phil., Master of Philosophy, Columbia University, New York, New York, 1975
  • PhD, Business (Marketing), Columbia University, New York, New York, 1976
  • Certificate, Certified Computing Professional, Association for Systems Management, Cleveland, OH, 1985
  • Certificate, Advanced Faculty Development, MIS: A.A.C.S.B. and Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 1986
  • Executive Program, Institute for Educational Management, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1991
  • Executive Program, Experienced Presidents Seminar, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2008
  • Courses Taught
  • Course Sections and Syllabi

    Spring 2020 Sections

    • MKTG-3808 (Business Research) Section: 01
    • MKTG-3808 (Business Research) Section: 02
    • MKTG-6850 (Analytic. Methods in Marketing) Section: 01

    Fall 2019 Sections

    Spring 2019 Sections

    Fall 2018 Sections

    Spring 2018 Sections

    Fall 2017 Sections

    Spring 2017 Sections

    Fall 2016 Sections

    Spring 2016 Sections

    Fall 2015 Sections

    Spring 2015 Sections

  • Publication List

    Please Refer to Curriculum Vitae for Listing of 70+ Papers

  • Skills and Resources

    Undergraduate Research

    Guided 136 UWG students to acceptance at least one national conference each. Advisor to five undergraduate research teams that have won the first prize in the nation in undergraduate research at the National Social Science Association. There have been journal articles published with students.

    Implications of the Flattening World for American Education

    According to Tom Friedman, 10 influences have done much to “flatten” the world, from the fall of the Berlin Wall (toward the end of 1989) to what he calls the steroids, such as hand-held devices (circa 2003-4). All of these flatteners occurring in a blink of an eye constituted the first of what Friedman calls the triple convergence. The next (and related) convergence occurred when “the convergence of the ten flatteners begat the convergence of a set of business practices and skills that would get the most out of the flat world” – also of professions with different skill sets. This meant a new business model was required to succeed. Instead of collaborating vertically (the top-down method of collaboration, where innovation comes from the top), businesses needed to begin collaborating horizontally – where companies and people collaborate with other departments or companies to add value creation or innovation. And, finally, the third element of the triple convergence occurred with the advent of China, India, and other countries into this new world, almost 3three billion people who had been left out of the business climate were now in. So, it is a “triple convergence” that we in America have to deal with – a convergence of 10 flatteners in the blink of an eye, of many diverse skill sets and professions, and of three billion new people in the global market. This has tremendous implications for American higher education and society in general.

    Higher Education: An American Star

    Higher education (particularly the four-year college and university sector) appears to be under criticism from many politicians for a variety of reasons, and is constantly having to play defense. One of the often-cited criticisms is that higher education needs to operate more “like a business.” • This presentation uses a well-established corporate / business model, and real national and international data to demonstrate that higher education, far from being the drain on resources it is made out to be, is really An American Star, worthy of significantly increased support and resources. • This topic has been featured in a TEDx talk by Dr. Sethna: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xgdPxDPCaQ