The USF Muma College of Business Appoints New Dean

Jean D. Kabongo has been selected to serve as the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus dean for the USF Muma College of Business. Kabongo, professor of strategic management and entrepreneurship, joined the faculty as an assistant professor in 2010.  

Students have selected Kabongo as the recipient of the campus’ Outstanding Professor Award four times since the fall of 2015, and he also received an Excellence in Teaching Award from his colleagues during the 2014-15 academic year.

“We are very excited that Dr. Jean Kabongo will be the new campus dean for the Muma College of Business on the Sarasota-Manatee campus,” said Muma College of Business Dean Moez Limayem. “Dr. Kabongo has demonstrated outstanding leadership qualities during his time at USF. He understands the needs of our students as well as the business community in the Sarasota-Manatee region and beyond.”

Campus dean positions, which were established as part of the consolidation of the three USF campuses that took effect on July 1, 2020, are responsible for the delivery of academic programs on their specific campus. College deans have university-wide oversight responsibility for all three campuses.

“We really want to thank Tom Becker for serving as the interim dean during a challenging transitional period of consolidating the three USF campuses into One USF,” Holbrook added. “Tom is a scholar at heart and wants to refocus on his research and teaching. I commend him for the outstanding job he did in helping to build a foundation for the future success of Muma’s expanding programs here on the Sarasota-Manatee campus.

For the past five years, Kabongo has indeed shown great innovation and service to the community, partnering with Dr. Jessica Grosholz, associate professor of criminology at the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus, to develop and deliver a unique entrepreneurship program for inmates at Hardee Correctional Institution. The program is designed to help inmates use their time while incarcerated to develop strategies to build a business upon their release, and also provide USF students with an opportunity to engage in research.

“It is a great honor to have been appointed as the Muma College of Business campus dean at Sarasota-Manatee under One USF to succeed Dean Becker,” said Kabongo. “I am humbled. It is also a great responsibility. Faculty, staff, and students on the Sarasota-Manatee campus have unique strengths that will contribute to strengthening the Muma College of Business in distinctive ways.” 

“I am confident in what we will accomplish together for the benefit of our students and community,” Kabongo continued. “As the campus dean, I cannot accomplish anything of great significance on my own. To quote the Tanzanian proverb, ‘many hands make light work.’” 

“I am encouraged by the spirit of collaboration and dedication, one of our greatest strengths, and I look forward to working with all of my colleagues, our devoted staff and our students to continue supporting and promoting the highest-quality educational programs, research, public service, and economic development activities for the Muma College of Business in the Sarasota-Manatee area.

”Kabongo’s current research focuses on the analysis and promotion of sustainable practices in organizations, sustainable entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education in developing economies. His recent papers have been published in Journal of Business Ethics, Business Strategy & the Environment, International Journal of Sustainable Strategic Management, Journal of the World Business, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research and Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development.

Kabongo was an assistant professor of strategic management and entrepreneurship at Millersville University of Pennsylvania (2006-10), assistant professor of management at Virginia State University (2004-06), and an instructor of Management at Universidad Anahuac in Mexico City, Mexico (1999-2001)

Kabongo earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy at Institut Saint Augustin, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, an MBA at Universidad Iberoamericana, in Mexico City, Mexico, and a PhD in management from Université Laval, in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. He also has earned certificates from the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship in social entrepreneurship, Harvard Business School in the art and craft of discussion leadership, and Syracuse University in the teaching of entrepreneurship.

To learn more about the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus, visit www.sarasotamanatee.usf.edu.

About the University of South Florida
The University of South Florida is a high-impact global research university dedicated to student success. Over the past 10 years, no other public university in the country has risen faster in U.S. News and World Report’s national university rankings than USF. Serving more than 50,000 students on campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee, USF is designated as a Preeminent State Research University by the Florida Board of Governors, placing it in the most elite category among the state’s 12 public universities.

USF has earned widespread national recognition for its success graduating under-represented minority and limited-income students at rates equal to or higher than white and higher income students. USF is a member of the American Athletic Conference. Learn more at www.usf.edu.