TAMPA – On Aug. 1, Gert-Jan (GJ) de Vreede began his tenure as interim dean at the USF Muma College of Business. While many of the Muma College of Business faculty and staff know GJ well, not everyone is as familiar with him. Many who know him describe him as pragmatic, mild-mannered, approachable, and decisive.
GJ was born and raised in the pottery-making town of Delft in the Netherlands. He received his PhD in 1995 and worked at Delft University of Technology, also known as TU Delft, before his arrival in the United States as a full professor at the University of Nebraska, Omaha in 2002. GJ is a father of four and is married to Triparna de Vreede, a fellow Muma College of Business faculty member.
We spent 20 minutes with Dean GJ and here are some excerpts from our conversation.
What’s in a name
We started the conversation by asking about his last name — de Vreede.
It’s of Dutch origin and is pronounced (duh-VRAAY-duh), sort of like “Whaddya AFRAID of?”
And yes, his last name starts with a lowercase letter and would only be capitalized at the beginning of a sentence, like another famous Dutchman, Vincent van Gogh.
But what about his first name? Gert-Jan is his first name. But he goes by the nickname GJ — note there are no periods as the letters do not represent two initials.
And speaking of Vincent van Gogh, de Vreede is an art aficionado and admires artists like Dalí, Picasso, Mondrian, and Escher. He’s also a big fan of progressive rock. Each year, he takes a musical sabbatical by going on a five-day music cruise where progressive rock bands play all day on multiple stages while sailing in the Caribbean, his latest one being in May this year.
A solid foundation
When asked about his priorities as interim dean of the business college, he began by expressing his gratitude to Moez Limayem for his 10 years of tireless and passionate leadership for the college.
“Thanks to the sound foundation laid by Moez, and together with the entire faculty and staff, we have an exciting and dynamic time ahead and we are all set to take our college to new heights,” he said.
He mentioned that Limayem was a great mentor and there are many lessons he taught before passing the leadership baton.
“The one thing I learned is that you coach and help others. Also, find ways to a solution or path forward. Moez was always focused on finding a solution. And I think that is a great quality to have,” he said.
He reiterated that the college is on an incredible trajectory of success, and he intends to make sure that the momentum continues.
Student success a priority
Next, we touched on student success, and he proudly pointed out that student graduation rates have been on a healthy-looking incline. In fact, the latest four-year graduation rates for first-time in college students climbed to 63 percent in 2021.
“We want to continue to strengthen that and serve our students. We want to make sure they have the great, industry-standard programs and be assured of a good job when they graduate,” he said.
He also added, “We are investing heavily in new programs such as fintech. We are revamping and focusing on our entrepreneurship and MAcc programs. And of course, one of our strengths has been and will be analytics and that is where the college is going to continue to make strides.”
Creating value through partnerships
While student success remains a priority, he also underscored the importance of showing the friends of the college — those who contribute through philanthropy and partnerships — that their contributions are paying off and are creating value for the students and the community.
“We need to keep building our reputation as the place to be when it comes to the best business education,” he said.
Equally as important is ensuring that the college is a place where faculty and staff want to work, are happy to work, and can thrive.
“We want to be a place where researchers can spread their wings, do world-class research, where our educators can excel in the classroom and pursue their passion, and where our staff can be resourceful and entrepreneurial in serving the best interests of the college,” he said.
Rolling into research
When he was young and was deciding on a college and what to study, he basically set two requirements: working with computers and people. He followed up his master’s degree in information systems with a PhD in the same discipline. About midway through his doctoral studies, he found his love for research.
“I sort of rolled into academia rather than it being a conscious choice from the beginning,” he observed.
One of his most passionate research areas is collaboration engineering. This discipline delves into the science of understanding what makes people good facilitators and how they can be trained.
“It has always been challenging for organizations to have people with the knowledge, skills, and expertise to run meetings and lead teams. Together with some colleagues, I developed a way – the ‘thinkLets pattern language’ – to capture and codify best facilitation practices that can then be easily transferred. This way you can train people in a very short time to become effective facilitators, either with collaboration systems or with pen and paper tools,” he said.
Leadership and goal alignment
When asked about keywords that describe his leadership style, he said that a few words came to mind.
“I’m collaborative, purposeful, thoughtful, and efficient. That comes from my research background, but also from my experience. No one has all the knowledge and insights to make the best decisions,” he said.
He also described himself as measured in his decision-making. “I don’t shoot from the hip or get rushed very easily. I take my time, and I consult," he said. But he’s not a ponderer. "I try to be efficient while being thoughtful,” he said.
His job as leader of the college is not without complexities. He says it’s critical for every leader and the leadership team to establish goal alignment between the college, its stakeholders, and the university.
“The most important thing when you are trying to move a team forward —and the college is a team — is that we have clear goals to serve our students and our community and share a passion with our partners to achieve those goals. Where there is a will, there is a way,” he said.
A dynamic future
We closed the conversation by talking about the exciting future for the college. GJ’s appointment was followed by several leadership team changes that were all filled by colleagues from within the Muma College of Business.
Jennifer Cainas and Jean Kabongo became new associate deans along with Tim Heath as the interim associate dean for research and professional programs.
“Our new associate deans represent something special – the people of this college. We are a remarkable community of talented, enthusiastic, and compassionate people. Our collective efforts provide meaningful business education that consistently changes lives,” he said.
We wish GJ and his team all the very best as they embark on a very important journey over the next year!