Len Jessup, PhD - Executive Vice President University Relations; Board Member

Managing Board

Dr. Jessup is a tenured, Full Professor at Washington State University, having previously served as the Markin Endowed Chair in Business Leadership and the Kays Distinguished Professor in Information Technology, and is currently serving as Director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. In this role he leads an outstanding team that, in October of 2009, was recognized for the second year in a row by Entrepreneur Magazine and The Princeton Review as offering a "top 25" ranked undergraduate entrepreneurship program in the nation (out of 2,300 programs evaluated).

Dr. Jessup previously served as Vice President for University Development at Washington State University and, from May of 2005 until May of 2007, as President of the WSU Foundation, an organization that raised funding for WSU and managed the university’s endowment from donated funds. While he was at the helm of the Foundation, the University achieved record levels of fundraising, donors, board member giving, and endowment.

Prior to his current post, Dr. Jessup served as Dean of the College of Business at WSU and as the Philip L. Kays Distinguished Professor in Management Information Systems. As Dean, he led a complete, two-year reengineering of the business program which resulted in the successful AACSB reaccreditation of the College in Spring 2004. Under his leadership, the College of Business embarked on a new strategic plan to lead a University-wide Entrepreneurship and Innovation Initiative, driven by the College of Business and its nationally recognized entrepreneurship program.

Prior to serving as Dean of the College of Business, Dr. Jessup served for two years at WSU as Coordinator of the Management Information Systems program. While managing the MIS program at WSU, he was instrumental in implementing an “MIS Fellows” program that enabled top undergraduate MIS students to work side-by-side with MIS faculty on cutting-edge research projects. Dr. Jessup has taught in various areas of entrepreneurship, management, and within information systems, and has published, presented, and consulted on electronic commerce, computer-supported collaborative work, technology-supported teaching and learning, emerging information technologies, entrepreneurship, leadership, commercialization, technology transfer, and related topics.

Dr. Jessup received his B.A. in Information and Communication Studies in 1983 and his M.B.A. in 1985 from California State University, Chico, where he was voted Outstanding M.B.A. Student. He received his Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior and Management Information Systems from the University of Arizona, and was later awarded the outstanding Ph.D. Alumnus Award by that program.