UMSL College of Business Administration Dean Shu Schiller received the 2024 PhD Leadership Award from the Fox School of Business at Temple University. Schiller earned her PhD in information systems from Temple in 2007. (Photo by Derik Holtmann)

Shu Schiller, new dean of the College of Business Administration at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, was among five honorees recognized last Friday at Temple University’s Fox School of Business Doctoral Alumni Awards reception.

Schiller was selected for the 2024 PhD Alumni Leadership Award. She was unable to attend the event in Philadelphia but sent a video message sharing her gratitude for the recognition.

“It’s such an honor to receive the PhD Alumni Leadership Award,” Schiller said. “Many people helped me grow while I was a student at Temple and continued to guide me and mentor me after graduation.”

Schiller assumed her position leading the College of Business Administration earlier this month, but most of her career has been at Wright State University. She joined the faculty at the university in Dayton, Ohio, in 2006 as she was still completing her PhD in information systems and went on to earn tenure, serve as a department chair and find her way into administration.

She spent nearly four years as the associate dean of Wright State’s Raj Soin College of Business, and in 2022, became interim dean of the university’s College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies.

She credits her time at Temple for helping her lay the foundation for her future. She was a first-generation college student from China who earned a bachelor’s degree in management engineering and a master’s degree in management science from the Beijing Institute of Technology before coming to the United States to pursue her doctorate.

“It was my dream come true to study at Temple and to get my PhD in information systems,” Schiller said. “The school provided excellent support for me to be successful. I’m grateful for the assistantship and the opportunity to work with renowned scholars in business.”

Schiller has been eager to step into her new position at UMSL and is committed to helping foster student success and engaging with the local business community to ensure the university is preparing its graduates to meet the needs of the region’s workforce.

“I am deeply honored and excited to join the college,” Schiller said. “Leadership is not defined by the title. We are all leaders. A big part of leadership is to serve. To me, it’s about creating opportunities and providing resources for others to grow and succeed.”