Paul Brown named next president of Monmouth University

Dr. Paul R. Brown, dean of the College of Business and Economics at Lehigh University, has been appointed the eighth president of Monmouth University. His appointment becomes effective August 1, 2013.

Brown will succeed Paul G. Gaffney II, who will retire on July 31, 2013, after 10 years at Monmouth.
 
“With tremendous excitement I look forward to joining the Monmouth University community as its eighth president,” said Brown. “But I would be remiss if I didn’t thank President Alice Gast, Provost Patrick Farrell as well as so many colleagues at Lehigh that allowed us to collectively take the College of Business and Economics to unparalleled levels of success over the past six years.  I am very proud of what we have accomplished at Lehigh, and I am convinced that the very best is yet to come for the College.”

“On behalf of the Lehigh community, I would like to express our pride and admiration for Paul, whose professionalism and vision for education made him a clear choice to lead Monmouth University,” said Farrell, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Lehigh. “He is a respected colleague and we will miss him at Lehigh. I look forward to hearing of his work as president of Monmouth University, and we all wish him the best in that effort.”

“Dr. Brown was our first and unanimous choice to be the new president of Monmouth University. He is an outstanding leader with the qualifications to help Monmouth University continue to prosper as a strong, vibrant institution,” stated Chair of the Board Robert B. Sculthorpe ’63.
 
Brown assumed his role as dean at Lehigh in July 2007, where he completed a transformative and wide-sweeping Strategic Plan, implemented major leadership changes and focused on undergraduate and graduate program leadership. Brown was responsible for the education of approximately 2000 students a year who attended the array of programs offered in the College. During his tenure, he managed historically high levels of enrollment in both undergraduate and graduate program as well as recruited and hired faculty at an unprecedented pace.

Prior to joining Lehigh, Brown spent over 20 years at New York University’s Stern School of Business where he held a variety of senior academic and administrative positions at both the school and university level.

Brown is a professor of accounting with an emphasis on financial analysis and governance. He coauthored Financial Reporting, Financial Statement Analysis, and Valuation: A Strategic Perspective (through sixth edition), a widely used textbook in undergraduate, MBA and executive education programs. In addition, he is the author of the eBook, Foundations of Financial Statement Analysis, which is used in both traditional teaching and mixed-mode distance learning settings.
 
Brown graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Franklin and Marshall College where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree, and received his Doctor of Philosophy as well as his Masters of Professional Accountancy degrees from the University of Texas at Austin.