IBL News
New Leadership of Loeb-Sullivan School to Take Masters Program Online
By Timothy Koster
The Loeb-Sullivan School of International Business and Logistics (IBL) is undergoing a change in leadership. Dr. William
DeWitt, who just completed his sixth year at MMA, is stepping down as the associate dean and returning full-time to the
classroom. Dr. Donald Maier has been appointed as the new dean, director of graduate studies, and department chair.
DeWitt , associate dean since 2007, earned his BA in English before serving as a lieutenant in the US Navy Reserve. He earned
a master's degree in business administration and logistics, worked for Burlington Northern Railroad in operations and strategic
planning, and was vice president of marketing and sales until 1995, when he returned to graduate school to earn his PhD in
logistics and transportation with a minor in geographic information systems. As dean, DeWitt "has done a lot to restructure the
IBL program, making it a strong international and logistics training ground that really works for industry," said Maier.
Maier joined the MMA faculty in January 2011 as an associate professor after a long career in logistics and supply chain
management for several major corporations. He began his teaching career at University of St. Francis in Illinois, where he
was the 2009 recipient of the Excellence
in Teaching Award and the 2009 Alumni
Board Presidential Award.
The change in leadership comes when
the IBL program is incorporating distance
learning into its curriculum and offering
its graduate program online.
This
incorporation will allow MMA to reach full-
time professionals and students changing
careers. The 2013 spring semester marked
thefirsttimeMMAofferedaclasscompletely
taught online to graduate students who
volunteered for a pilot program to test
different learning management systems
(LMS). Characteristics of the program
included two types of courses: hybrid
and completely online. The hybrid course
required students to physically attend class
one day a week while the 2nd course was
entirely online. The hybrid classes were
recorded and posted for the classes entirely
online.
Because of the success of the online course,
IBL aims to have its full complement of
graduate courses available online by 2014.
MMA is known for its world-class education
in marine engineering and transportation
but is less well-known for its unique IBL
program, the only one in New England to
"focus on international business as well as
logistics" (Maier). Under the guidance of
DeWitt, MMA enhanced the IBL program
and its reputation, which Maier plans to
continue to build upon.
37 MARINER 2013 - Issue 2

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