Building business bridges

Building bridges with local industries and earning prestigious

accreditations for Woodbury University’s School of Business are just

some of the things on Andre van Niekerk’s agenda.

Van Niekerk, who has extensive background in business and

education, was hired over the summer as dean of the School of

Business after three years away from working at a college.

“I realized going into three years of semi-retirement that I

missed the academic environment,” van Niekerk said. “I didn’t want to

retire. I had too much energy and I believe I had a lot to offer the

professional education community.”

Prior to accepting the position at Woodbury, van Niekerk did

business consulting for past three years, working with companies such

as Mercedes Benz and the World Health Organization.

Van Niekerk hopes to use his contacts from the consulting business

to help him in his new position at Woodbury.

He also previously served as the Associate Dean in charge of

Executive MBA programs for Pepperdine University, and has been a

professor at several schools including USC where he was a core

faculty member for the Center of Excellence in Health Care

Management.

“I’ve had a dual track record,” he said. “Wherever I worked, I

always taught at a local university. I’m an experienced person in a

classroom, so I understand faculty issues and concerns, so I can be a

leader in that field having had that experience.”

President of Woodbury University, Kenneth Nielsen, said that van

Niekerk’s mixture of business and academic experience helped make him

the perfect candidate for the job.

“We very carefully selected him,” Nielsen said. “We wanted someone

who knew the L.A. area and who knew the business community and we

wanted someone who had the academic credentials. We also wanted

someone who had passion for the school.”

Van Niekerk has many goals in his new role as Dean of the School

of Business, including plans to move the school toward receiving its

accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of

Business. “It’s a four to five-year journey,” he said. “We’ll be

looking at refining curriculum, possibly adding a major or two, and

paying attention to faculty and professional development to bring

people into AACSB compliance standards.”

Nielsen said van Niekerk’s desire to achieve the accreditation and

his past experience bringing it to other schools was important in

selecting him for the position.

“We’ve had the business school since 1884 and we’re trying to

bring our program to a new level of quality,” Nielsen said. “Our hope

and our strategic plans shows us moving to the next level of

accreditation. We saw Dr. van Niekerk as best suited to help do

that.”

Due to continuing increases in enrollment at the university, van

Niekerk says the business school will also be looking to build a new

building for its students.