About President Schmotter
James W. Schmotter became president of Western Connecticut State University on Aug. 1, 2004. He is leading WestConn’s continuing transformation in pursuit of its exciting new vision — to be a public university featuring the arts and professional programs on a strong liberal arts foundation with the characteristics of New England’s best small private universities, but with more affordable costs.
Within weeks of his arrival, Schmotter established the Values and Vision Task Force. This 15-member group held a series of community dialogues with the university’s stakeholders. On the campus, these meetings involved faculty, staff and students. Off-campus, similar sessions involved groups representing government, business, the arts, social services, K-12 education, alumni, and others. The process laid the foundation for the Strategic Plan that the WCSU Senate approved unanimously and has also guided development of the President’s Initiatives Fund program, which supports creative projects that advance the university’s vision.
Schmotter came to WestConn from Western Michigan University, where he served as dean of the Haworth College of Business for seven years. Prior to that, he served as dean of the College of Business and Economics at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. In his 14 years at the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University, he served as associate dean and director of international studies, and taught business history and international management.
Schmotter earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in History at Muskingum College in Ohio. He received his doctorate in Colonial American history at Northwestern University where he studied the evolution of the ministry in 18th-century New England. He also studied higher education administration at Columbia University.
Schmotter has consulted for a variety of organizations, including IBM, TRW, the Institute for International Education, the Cleveland Foundation, the Graduate Management Admission Council, the Educational Testing Service, United States Agency for International Development and a number of universities in the U.S., Asia and Europe. He is the author of numerous monographs, chapters, and articles in popular and scholarly publications on international business, business education, and business history, as well as several guidebooks to MBA programs. He has been frequently quoted in the press, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, USA Today, and the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Schmotter has served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Graduate Management Admission Council, was the founding Vice Chair of the board of the MBA Enterprise Corps, and has been a member of many committees of AACSB International: The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. He also has been active in local community groups in the towns he has served including, in Danbury, membership as a corporator of the Savings Bank of Danbury; a director of the United Way of Western Connecticut; the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce; the Hord Foundation; and the Latino Scholarship Fund.
