Kidder Named New Dean of Turner College of Business

Deborah Kidder has been named the new dean of the Turner College of Business at Columbus State University.  She joined the Turner College in August of 2021 from the University of Hartford’s Barney School of Business, where she serves as a professor of management.  She previously served as the Barney School’s Associate Dean for Academic Management from 2018 to 2020, while prior to that (2014-2018) she served as Chair of the Department of Management, Marketing & Entrepreneurship.  Dean Kidder began her academic career as an assistant professor of management at the University of Connecticut in 1996, after which she served on the management faculty at Towson University (2002-2006).  She received the Barney School’s Teaching Excellence Award in 2009, and Towson University’s Beta Gamma Sigma Professor of the Year Award in 2004.  Her research interests include fairness and justice in the workplace and restorative justice, and her academic research appears in the Journal of Management, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Academy of Management Perspectives, Journal of Business Ethics, Human Resource Management Review, Academy of Management Executive, Personnel Review, Negotiation Journal and Business Horizons, among others.  For these efforts she received the Barney School’s Research Excellence Award in 2017.  Kidder earned a B.A. in economics from Swarthmore College in 1988, and a PhD in industrial and labor relations from the University of Minnesota in 1996.

     Kidder succeeds Dr. Linda Hadley, who in March 2021 announced her plans to retire as the college’s dean after 30 years on the CSU faculty.  “I am very happy to be joining the D. Abbott Turner College of Business at Columbus State University as its next dean,” Kidder said. “Everyone has been very helpful and welcoming. I look forward to working with my colleagues to continue the Turner College’s success.”  Dr. Deborah Bordelon, CSU’s provost and executive vice president, spoke for the CSU community in welcoming Kidder. “I am very excited to welcome Dr. Kidder to the Turner College of Business and Columbus State University. Her wealth of experience, support of faculty, and commitment to student success are all key factors in leading the Turner College of Business to even greater heights,” said Bordelon. “Search committee members were most impressed with her ideas and vision for the college. Her enthusiasm, sense of humor, and strong communication skills were noted by many faculty, staff, and community members who met with her during the interview process.”