Donald Hopkins appointed interim dean, Rachel Sturm, interim associate dean, of Raj Soin College of Business

Donald H. Hopkins is director of the Master of Information Systems and Supply Chain Management Programs and adjunct assistant professor of information systems and supply chain management.

Donald H. Hopkins, director of the Master of Information Systems and Supply Chain Management Programs, has been appointed the interim dean of the Wright State University Raj Soin College of Business, effective June 1.

In addition, Rachel E. Sturm, Ph.D., associate professor and chair of the Department of Management and International Business, will serve as the college’s interim associate dean.

Hopkins will replace Dean Thomas Traynor, Ph.D., who is retiring after a distinguished 35-year career with the Raj Soin College of Business.

The university will launch a new national search for a permanent dean this fall.

Hopkins has more than 35 years of business experience, including 15 years as an executive with NCR Corporation in Dayton, SunGard Availability Services in Philadelphia and International Game Technology in Reno, Nevada.

Hopkins was appointed director of the Information Systems and Supply Chain Management Graduate Programs in 2016. As director, he collaborated with the faculty to establish Graduate Certificates in Information Technology Management, Supply Chain Management and Analytics for Business Professionals. In addition, he has focused on establishing and growing relationships with the IT, supply chain and logistics industries in the Greater Dayton region.

He has also served as an adjunct assistant professor of information systems and supply chain management at Wright State since 2004 and has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in the MBA, Information Systems, and Logistics and Supply Chain Management programs.

He received the Outstanding Teaching Award for Master of Information Systems three times.

Hopkins has served on advisory boards in the Wright State College of Engineering and Computer Science and the Department of Information Systems and Supply Chain Management and at the University of Dayton, Miami University and Indiana University.

He received his Master of Business Administration and master’s degrees in mathematics, school administration and computer science from the University of Dayton and his bachelor’s degree in mathematics/physics from Miami University.

Rachel E. Sturm is associate professor and chair of the Department of Management and International Business.

Sturm joined the Raj Soin College of Business faculty in 2014 and was named chair of the Department of Management and International Business in 2022.

As an organizational behavior scholar, Sturm studies the micro-level foundations of organizing and leadership, including how leaders can develop virtuous character. She also studies the effects of powerholding, gender nuances in the workplace and self-other rating agreement.

Her research has been published in top outlets including Harvard Business Review, the Journal of Management, the Journal of Organizational Behavior and The Leadership Quarterly. She has also presented her research both nationally and internationally at conferences.

She is an associate editor at The Leadership Quarterly and a board member of the YWCA-Dayton. In addition, Sturm is a professional leadership coach having completed multiple coaching training programs.

She received a Presidential Award for Faculty Excellence: Early Career Achievement in 2016, the MBA Excellence in Teaching Award from the Raj Soin College of Business in 2020 and 2021, and the Outstanding Teacher Award from the Department of Management and International Business four times.

Sturm earned her Ph.D. in business administration from the University of Houston and her bachelor’s degree in psychology, with a minor in business management and international studies, from Binghamton University.