Meet Our Deans: Selcuk Erenguc
You already know that the Warrington College of Business is the top business school in the state and one of the best in the nation and world, but do you know the leaders that have guided us to such success and recognition? In our Meet the Deans series, we introduce you to the seven deans across the Warrington College of Business, Hough Graduate School of Business, Heavener School of Business and Fisher School of Accounting that lay the foundation for our success.
Selcuk Erenguc is Senior Associate Dean, Director of the Hough Graduate School of Business, and George W. and Lisa O. Etheridge, Jr. Professor. He is responsible for each of the graduate programs within the Hough Graduate School of Business, including the UF MBA program, specialized master’s degrees, Doctor of Business Administration and Post-Doctoral Bridge program. He also works in managing budgeting for the college and faculty governance. Erenguc has been with Warrington since 1982, serving as Senior Associate Dean and Director of Hough since 2004. Originally from Ankara, Turkey, he received his DBA from Indiana University, Ph.D. in statistics from Academy of Economics and Commercial Sciences in Adana, Turkey, and MBA and BBA from American University of Beirut.
Q: When did you know that you wanted to be involved in higher education, and why was that an interesting option for you?
Erenguc: “I’ve always had interest in research, even when I was an undergraduate student, so it was a natural progression into a career in higher education.”
Q: What are you most proud of that you’ve been involved with during your time at Warrington?
Erenguc: “I’m proud to have been involved with a number of things here at Warrington. We’re one of the leaders in specialized master’s degrees, and I’m proud to have started the college’s first combination degree program when I was chair of the Information Systems and Operations Management (ISOM) department. In fact, two of my former ISOM doctoral students are sitting deans and one is a former dean at other colleges. I was also instrumental in the creation of our Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) and Post-Doctoral Bridge programs. I’m very proud to have been involved with all of those initiatives.
Another aspect of Warrington that I’m proud of is our rankings, especially the most recent ranking of the UF MBA program from U.S. News & World Report. In almost all the rankings out there, everything from programs to faculty research, we are in a prominent position. Everyone here – faculty, students and staff – is proud of that.”
Q: What goal do you have for students pursuing a degree at the Warrington College of Business? What do you most hope they get out of their time here?
Erenguc: “I would love to see all of our students employed at the company that they really want to be employed at. That would give me great satisfaction.
I would also like all of those students who leave us and find great jobs to come back and be an active member of the Warrington community. I’d like them to come back to be speakers in class, participate in alumni activities, help us recruit great students, help us place our students in great jobs and be a part of the community even if they aren’t on campus anymore.”
Q: If you didn’t decide to pursue a career in higher education, what would you do instead?
Erenguc: “I could have been a good soccer player!”
Q: What can we find you doing outside of work or on the weekend?
Erenguc: “I like to spend time with my grandchildren and family. I also enjoy reading. I try to read fun books. I think I’ve read everything that John Grisham has written.
I also recently read The Boys in the Boat, which is a story about the American crew team in the 1936 Olympics. It was fantastic, and anyone interested in teamwork should read this book.”
Q: What’s a fact about you that might surprise other people?
Erenguc: “I’m a very open person, so I don’t think there’s a lot people don’t know about me! However, they might not know that I used to be a very good bridge player. In college, my partner and I were champions at the American University of Beirut. It’s a challenging and strategic game. You and your partner need to be able to speak the same bridge language.”
Q: Is there anything else you’d like the Warrington community to know about you that we didn’t ask about?
Erenguc: “First, I have an open-door policy, and students can come in and talk to me at any time.
Second, with these recent rankings, I want the Warrington community to know that while we’re proud to be well-ranked, we are not complacent. We will do all that we can to continue move up in the rankings.”
