Huscroft Appointed Interim Deese College Dean

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (July 12, 2024) – A department chair and associate professor of the Willie A. Deese College of Business and Economics at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University has been named interim dean of the college, effective July 22.

Joseph R. Huscroft Jr., Ph.D., who has been serving as chair of the Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management, brings a wealth of experience and academic excellence to this new role as the leader of a college whose programs are consistently recognized among the best in the nation.

“I have observed Dr. Huscroft for several years in his role as department chair,” said Tonya Smith-Jackson, provost and executive vice chancellor of Academic Affairs. “He has demonstrated excellence in leadership by managing change to advance the mission and align N.C. A&T with our R1 and student success aspirations. I have absolute confidence in his leadership capabilities.”

Huscroft has served as Deese College of Business and Economics (COBE) SAP Project Propel lead since 2016, COBE Graduate Program committee member since 2016 and Graduate Council member for The Graduate College since 2017, in addition to serving as member or leader of Deese College and university committees, as well as a doctoral committee member and chair and master’s thesis committee chair or co-chair.

Having published many papers, articles and research reports and presented at numerous conferences, Huscroft also is a reviewer for the International Journal of Logistics Management, International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal and the Journal of Defense Analytics and Logistics. He is a member of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, Association for Supply Chain Management and Institute for Supply Chain Management.

Before joining N.C. A&T in 2016 as an associate professor, Huscroft served as deputy department head and assistant professor of logistics and supply chain management for the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

Huscroft holds a B.S. in behavioral science from the United States Air Force Academy, MPA from Troy State University, M.S. in logistics management from the Air Force Institute of Technology and Ph.D. in management from Auburn University.

Lisa Owens-Jackson, Ph.D., CPA, an A&T alumna who has served as interim Deese College dean since August 2022, will return to the role of Department of Accounting and Finance chair, which she previously held since 2019.

“While interim dean, Dr. Owens-Jackson’s commitment and vision have had a profound and positive impact on the Deese College of Business and Economics,” said Smith-Jackson. “We are thankful for her support and for fostering an environment of excellence in the college.”

The Deese College enrolled 1,826 students in the 2023-24 school year. About a tenth of those students are enrolled in one of the college’s four MBA program concentrations, its MACC program, and its graduate certificate programs.

The first business school in North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad region to earn accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the Deese College is one of fewer than 200 such schools globally to hold that accreditation as well as AACSB’s separate certification for its accounting programs.

The college is named for retired pharmaceutical industry executive Willie A. Deese, who earned his bachelor’s degree there before embarking on a career that culminated in his service as president of global manufacturing for Merck. It was the first A&T college or school to be named for one of its graduates or supporters.