Dean

Melissa. L. Gruys, Ph.D., SPHR, SHRM-SCP is the dean of the Monte Ahuja College of Business at Cleveland State University.

Dr. Gruys is widely recognized as an experienced academic administrator, scholar and researcher. She joined CSU on July 1, 2023.

Previously, Dr. Gruys served as the Dean and a Professor of Management in the Doermer School of Business at Purdue University Fort Wayne. She earned her Ph.D. in Human Resources and Industrial Relations from the University of Minnesota and a B.A. from the University of Minnesota-Morris with majors in Management, Economics, and Speech Communications.

Before joining Purdue University Fort Wayne, she was a professor and administrator at Washington State University-Vancouver and Wright State University (Dayton, Ohio). Dr. Gruys has published over 20 peer-reviewed journal articles, has taught courses in human resource management, management, and organizational behavior, and has received numerous awards for teaching, research and service activities.

Dr. Gruys has expertise in assessment, accreditation and strategic planning and has worked with business schools to introduce market-responsive programs and revise curricula for undergraduate and graduate programs-including interdisciplinary programs-to meet the needs of the region and its learners and employers. She has demonstrated experience in growing enrollments, enabling student success, and developing international collaborations in several countries.

She also has a robust history of consulting for and partnering with public and private sector organizations, both for and nonprofit, and is a Peer Reviewer for the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). A diversity, equity and inclusion advocate, Dr. Gruys's innovative initiatives have improved faculty and staff gender and racial diversity and increased employee retention.

Under her tenure, the Doermer School of Business was, and is, included as one of the Best Business Schools in recent U.S. News and World Report rankings, with their student first-time Certified Public Accountancy (CPA) pass rates ranking in the top 15% across all universities in the nation for the last four years; their online undergraduate program is currently ranked by U.S. News and World Report as 44th in the nation.

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