By Scott Miller
Staff Writer

CHARLESTON -- Robert Pitts, dean of the School of Business and Economics at the College of Charleston, announced his resignation Wednesday.

Pitts will end his term as dean this summer, according to e-mail he sent to CofC staff.

“Working together we have accomplished a great deal for the school in a very short period of time,” wrote Pitts, who joined the college in 2004.
His future plans are unknown. Pitts was unavailable Thursday for comment.

The college has not yet named an interim dean. A nationwide search for Pitts’ replacement will begin within the next few weeks, said President P. George Benson.

“Bob Pitts has made a significant positive impact on the quality of faculty, students and programs in his time as dean of the School of Business and Economics,” Benson said in a prepared statement. “He and his faculty have established a number of new programs that contribute to the economic growth and development of the state’s business community.”

Under Pitts’ leadership, the school received funding for the Carter Center in Real Estate and created the Office of Economic Analysis.

In his e-mail, Pitts cited the school’s recent accreditation from the international Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

“Our focus on excellence has produced a new spirit of accomplishment for our students, faculty of teacher-scholars, staff and stakeholders,” Pitts wrote. “With our economic partnership strategy, we have introduced exciting new programs and added dramatically to our faculty and staff with new energy, ideas and diversity.”

Before joining the College of Charleston in 2004, Pitts was dean and professor of marketing at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb. He also was chair of the marketing department at DePaul University in Chicago.

“Bob has the respect of business leaders throughout the region, and we wish him well in his future endeavors,” Benson said.