Provost Michael Ibba announced Amy Zeng, Ph.D., as the next dean to lead Chapman’s Argyros College of Business & Economics, home of the nationally ranked MBA program, following a nationwide search.
“Amy’s deep experience and leadership as an established dean known for curricular innovation and integration will accelerate the momentum in the Argyros College of Business & Economics,” said Ibba. “I look forward to partnering with her on interdisciplinary programming throughout our schools and colleges.”
With three decades in higher education, Zeng brings eight years of experience leading two Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)-accredited institutions, serving as dean at both Suffolk University’s Sawyer School of Business and the University of Hartford’s Barney School of Business. At Suffolk, she expanded immersive learning opportunities, launching a neuromarketing lab, consulting clinic, and student-run initiatives. Students gained real-world experience through an interdisciplinary sports marketing program featuring a multi-year partnership with an NBA championship team.
Zeng established numerous external partnerships throughout Boston’s economic ecosystem and doubled Sawyer’s endowment funds during her tenure. Equally active in the community, under her leadership, Suffolk’s business school received a Governor’s Citation in December 2022 in recognition of its commitment to service learning with nonprofits throughout the state. Most recently, Zeng launched an initiative to integrate generative artificial intelligence into business curricula to prepare a future-ready workforce, an effort recognized with the 2025 Eduventures Innovation Award.
While dean of the Barney School of Business, she oversaw a multi-million-dollar construction project that provided state-of-the-art learning and social spaces and spearheaded a systematic pathway to cultivate career readiness. At Worcester Polytechnic Institute, an R1 research university, Zeng held a series of leadership appointments including co-founder and inaugural director of the China Hub@WPI, a cross-school collaboration. She also advised or co-advised approximately 60 company-sponsored student projects.
The author of more than 100 publications and a frequently invited speaker, Zeng received more than $1 million in external grant awards from both federal funding agencies including the U.S. Department of Education and National Science Foundation as well as private funders including Novartis, Pratt & Whitney, and Staples. Her research interests include cybersecurity and digital transformation, risk management strategies in supply chains, and international business strategies and case studies. Her most recent publications have focused on business education in the AI era.
Zeng earned a doctorate in business administration from Penn State University, a master’s degree in industrial engineering from University of Washington – Seattle, and a bachelor’s degree in industrial management engineering from Beihang University.
“Business schools today are being asked to prepare students for a world defined by uncertainty, reinvention, and accelerating change,” said Stephen Galloway, chair of the search committee and dean of the Dodge College of Film and Media Studies. “The committee was deeply impressed by Dr. Zeng, who not only recognizes those challenges, but approaches them with imagination and optimism.”
