New President Chosen For Monmouth University

A new leader has been chosen to lead Monmouth University, the school's Board of Trustees announced Wednesday.

Dr. Paul R. Brown, who currently heads the College of Business and Economics at Lehigh Universtiy, has been appointed president of the West Long Branch university, according to a university release.

Brown will take over from retiring President Paul G. Gaffney II on Aug. 1. He will be the 8th president of the school, according to the release.

The school's Board of Trustees decided on Brown at their Feb. 26 meeting, the release says.

“Dr. Brown was our first and unanimous choice to be the new president of Monmouth University," Robert B. Sculthorpe, chair of the board, said in the release. "He is an outstanding leader with the qualifications to help Monmouth University continue to prosper as a strong, vibrant institution."

Brown in the release said he was excited to begin his tenure.

"The University’s enthusiasm and commitment to making its mark on the higher education landscape is palpable across Monmouth's Board of Trustees, faculty and staff,'' Brown said in the release. "Students are at the heart of Monmouth, and it is my honor to serve them, as well as the larger university community, in an effort to reach new heights of excellence. I could not be more thrilled with this opportunity.”

Brown took over as Dean of the College of Business and Economics at the Bethlehem, Penn., school in 2007, where he managed historically high levels of enrollment in both undergraduate and graduate programs as well as recruited and hired faculty at an unprecedented pace, according to the release.

He also instituted a 10-year strategic plan that was unanimously endorsed by the faculty, setting the direction of college for the next decade, and raised more than $40 million in donations, according to the release.

Prior to joining Lehigh, Brown spent more than 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. He served as the associate dean of executive MBA Programs, and academic director of TRIUM, NYU Stern’s global executive MBA program in alliance with the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and HEC School of Management, Paris. He also served as chair of the Department of Accounting, Taxation and Business Law at NYU Stern, according to the release.

Brown is a professor of accounting, co-author of the first six editions of "Financial Reporting, Financial Statement Analysis, and Valuation: A Strategic Perspective," a widely used textbook in undergraduate, MBA and executive education programs. He is also the author of the eBook, "Foundations of Financial Statement Analysis," which is used in both traditional teaching and mixed-mode distance learning settings, the release says.

Brown recieved a Bachelor's degree from  Franklin and Marshall College and a Doctor of Philosophy as well as his Masters of Professional Accountancy degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, the release says.

Brown and his wife, Joan G. Fishman, and daughter, Emma, will move to Doherty House, the presidential residence, this summer, the release says.

Currently, Joan is the Board Vice-President of the Cancer Support Community of the Greater Lehigh Valley.  This fall Emma will begin her university studies at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, according to the release.