UW College of Business Taps Senior Associate Dean, Department Chairs

Three members of the faculty in the University of Wyoming’s College of Business will step into new leadership roles in coming weeks.

Associate Professor Ronn Smith -- current chair of the Department of Management and Marketing, and interim associate dean of the college -- will begin service as the college’s senior associate dean starting May 1.

At that time, Associate Professor Andy Arnette will succeed Smith as chair of the Department of Management and Marketing.

And Associate Professor Mitch Oler, the Lenhart, Mason & Associates Fellow in the Department of Accounting and Finance, will chair that department starting July 1.

They’ll be part of the leadership team of Associate Professor Rob Godby, who takes the reins as interim dean of the College of Business May 1.

“Ronn, Andy and Mitch will make an immediate impact -- arriving in their new roles at a time when the state’s challenges have created many opportunities for the College of Business,” Godby says. “It’s an exciting time here at UW, and I am really looking forward to working with them as part of our new leadership team.”

Smith came to UW in 2020 from the University of Arkansas, where he had been a faculty member since 2006. He holds a Ph.D. with an emphasis in marketing from Washington State University, and a master’s degree in information processing and communication from Montana State University-Billings. An award-winning teacher at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, his research interests predominantly revolve around consumer psychology and behavioral topics related to retailing and at the intersection of marketing and supply chain management.

After receiving his MBA and Ph.D. from Virginia Tech University, Arnette joined UW’s faculty in 2012. He has taught courses in decision modeling and logistics at the undergraduate level, as well as teaching the decision modeling course in the on-campus and online MBA programs. His research interests are in the areas of disaster relief operations management, humanitarian logistics, sustainability and renewable energy.

Oler joined UW’s faculty in 2015 after teaching at Virginia Tech, the University of Utah and the University of Washington, as well as working in the private sector for KPMG Consulting LLP in the San Francisco Bay area. He holds a Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Washington and a master’s degree from Brigham Young University. While teaching financial accounting to undergraduate and graduate students, his research includes capital market anomalies, tax policies and intangible assets.