Dr. Jose V. “Zito” Sartarelli, a successful pharmaceutical executive at three Fortune 500 companies, has been named the Milan Puskar Dean of the College of Business and Economics at West Virginia University.

“We are fortunate to have a person of Dr. Sartarelli’s expertise and background to lead the College,” Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Michele Wheatly said in announcing the appointment Tuesday. “He brings a wealth of experience in international business, as well as an appreciation of the academic underpinning required to succeed in today’s business climate.”

Sartarelli said he is excited by the College’s potential.

“I think WVU College of Business and Economics is poised to grow and become very successful in the future,” he said. “The foundations are established and now we’re going to have to take it to the next level.

“I think we’re going to have to work very hard on funding as we go forward; we’re going to have work very hard on the programs that we currently have to make sure they’re focused and targeted and very student-centric, both in terms of providing a quality education as well as opportunities as they graduate,” said Dr. Sartarelli, who was to be introduced Tuesday evening at a reception celebrating the College’s 56 continuous years of AACSB accreditation. He will begin his duties July 30.

A native of Brazil, Dr. Sartarelli comes to WVU from Johnson & Johnson, where he has served as pharmaceutical group chairman for Asia-Pacific, Japan and Latin America, overseeing a business of more than $3 billion in annual sales spread over more than 50 countries, supported by more than 9,000 employees.

Previously he served at Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. as president of two international groups and senior vice president of franchise management, business analysis and planning.

Dr. Sartarelli also held senior positions of increasing responsibilities in marketing and management at Eli Lilly and Co. in the United States, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific. During his tenure with Lilly, he ran Asia-Pacific operations, directed international market planning activities and ran operations in Brazil and Chile.

Dr. Sartarelli received his bachelor of business administration in marketing from the S�o Paulo School of Business Administration (Funda��o Getulio Vargas), S�o Paulo, Brazil. He earned his MBA in marketing under a Fulbright Scholarship, and his doctorate in business administration from Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan.

Through March 2010 Dr. Sartarelli was a board member of the Council of the Americas. In addition, he has held leadership positions in the industry in many countries and has served as chairman of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) International Steering Committee and other significant committee chairmanships such as those for Japan, Canada, Latin America and Asia-Pacific.

The WVU College of Business and Economics has 66 full time faculty members, 1,041 undergraduate students and 344 graduate students. William Trumbull has been serving as interim dean since July 2008.

The search committee was led by Joyce McConnell, dean of the WVU College of Law.

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