LANCE NAIL, DEAN
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(May 2, 2008) Breaking News Von Herrmann Reeled In, Nail Still on Hook HATTIESBURG -- USM Interim Provost,
Bobby Middlebrooks, informed the USM community on 2-May-08 that Interim CoAL Dean, Denise von Herrmann, an
associate professor of political science, has been selected by USM President, Martha Saunders, to succeed the late Elliott
Pood as Dean of USM's College of Arts and Letters. According to sources, no one around the Hattiesburg campus seems
really surprised by Saunders' selection of von Herrmann, the "home girl," though some expressed surprise at the timing
of the announcement. According to sources, USM's central administration had hoped to announce the name of the CoB's
next Dean before announcing the CoAL choice, but that was not to be, as Middlebrooks' 2-May-08 announcement
indicates.
(May 5, 2008) CoB News, 6 May 2008 Home in the Grove? According to sourced reports, the President Martha Saunders'
selection for Dean, Lance Nail, visited the Hattiesburg area during the weekend of 2-May-08 through 4-May-08.
(May 13, 2008) Special Report Lance Nail & the 'Bama Boys An Investigative Series on CoB Faculty Research Credentials
Even with the hiring of UAB's Lance Nail still being delayed for one reason or another, the CoB's faculty are preparing themselves for a Nail administration of the College. For two younger faculty -- the EFIB's John Clark and Sami Dakhlia -- that preparation may involve, according to USMNEWS.NET sources, an overconfidence in what Nail's ties to the University of Alabama will mean for them. Like Clark, Nail received a PhD in finance from UofAL. Dakhlia, like the EFIB's senior finance professor, Tom Lindley, once taught at UofAL. Will these UofAL ties give Clark and/or Dakhlia an advantage over other CoB faculty in dealing with, and getting things (resources, favors, etc.) from, Nail? Sources say "no," and this report may explain why.
Even with the hiring of UAB's Lance Nail still being delayed for one reason or another, the CoB's faculty are preparing themselves for a Nail administration of the College. For two younger faculty -- the EFIB's John Clark and Sami Dakhlia -- that preparation may involve, according to USMNEWS.NET sources, an overconfidence in what Nail's ties to the University of Alabama will mean for them. Like Clark, Nail received a PhD in finance from UofAL. Dakhlia, like the EFIB's senior finance professor, Tom Lindley, once taught at UofAL. Will these UofAL ties give Clark and/or Dakhlia an advantage over other CoB faculty in dealing with, and getting things (resources, favors, etc.) from, Nail? Sources say "no," and this report may explain why.
(May 16, 2008) Special Report Did Nail Negotiate a Promotion? An Investigative Series on CoB Faculty Research
Credentials Now that UAB's Lance Nail has agreed to terms with USM President Martha Saunders, he will be joining the
CoB on 1-July-08 as its fifth permanent dean, succeeding former dean Harold Doty, whose 2003-07 tenure was
characterized by one disaster after another, concluding with an AACSB probation (spring 2007). Though Nail now has
the advantage of following what USMNEWS.NET sources are calling the worst dean in the history of USM's business
school, he (Nail) could still learn one thing from Doty's past dealings with central administrators at USM.
(May 16, 2008) 31st & Pearl Memo to Nail: Avoid Doty Now that Lance Nail has accepted USM President Martha
Saunders' invitation to succeed D. Harold Doty as USM's fifth business school dean, he should know that staying a
healthy distance from Doty might just be the best honeymoon period decision he could make. And, if Nail continues to
follow this advice beyond the honeymoon period, his decision to do so will most likely rate as one of the best career
decisions he ever makes.