Dr Geralyn McClure Franklin

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Senior Higher Education, Business School, Accreditation and Entrepreneurship Leader

Dr. Geralyn McClure Franklin (PhD, Personnel and Industrial Relations, University of North Texas) has spent almost 40 years championing higher education including the importance of a broad liberal arts education for business professionals and supporting the establishment and expansion of innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurial programming across the institution at six US and one UAE university along with bolstering the entrepreneurship discipline through her association with professional associations, business accrediting bodies, and various consulting engagements. She has served as dean or interim dean of business at five higher education institutions in the United States for 14 1/2 years and as dean of the College of Business and Economics at the United Arab Emirates University for two years.

Geralyn has involved faculty, staff, students, alumni, and others to set new, and even transformational, directions for the business units she has headed. She has led efforts to secure external funding for scholarships, professorships, support of academic programming, faculty and staff development, building renovations, and general unit needs. Additionally, one of Geralyn’s past schools was successful in achieving initial business accreditation from AACSB International, the premier accrediting body of business programs globally. Another college expedited the initial accreditation process while she was dean and later received initial accreditation, while an additional college completed the CIR documents under her guidance before a successful maintenance or continuous improvement accreditation review, and two colleges achieved continuous improvement accreditation under her leadership.

As an academic, Geralyn has published more than 80 journal articles and 50 conference proceedings on human resource management, employment law, and small and entrepreneurial issues. Professionally, she has been involved in many organizations and served in leadership roles throughout her academic career. She has been active in AACSB International, previously serving two elected terms on the board of directors and as a mentor and peer review team member including chair for multiple schools.

In 2016, Geralyn began consulting with universities and business schools globally on strategic initiatives and planning, internationalization, new program development, general and focused enrollments, human resource planning, recruitment, retention, and motivation, and institutional and specialized accreditations. Her work has included AACSB initial and reaffirmation accreditation projects in Bahrain, France, Jordan, Kuwait, Russia, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and multiple states in the United States.

Geralyn has completed numerous higher education consulting projects including those around:

Institutional Strategic Initiatives and Planning
Institutional Global Benchmarking Related to Research, Students, etc.
Institutional Accreditation Globally and Nationally
Institutional Leadership Development and Training
Institutional Academic Planning and Partnerships
Institutional Human Resource Planning, Recruitment, and Motivation
Institutional Leadership and Faculty Recruitment Advising
Coaching and Mentoring of Institutional Leaders
Business School Strategic Initiatives and Planning
AACSB Initial Business Accreditation (multiple schools)
AACSB Continuous Improvement Review Accreditation
Business School Doctoral Program Development
Business School Recruitment and Development
Business School “Friend Raising” to “Fund Raising”

Geralyn has published more than 80 journal articles and 50 conference proceedings on human resource management, employment law, and small and entrepreneurial issues. Professionally, she has been involved in many organizations and served in leadership roles throughout her academic career. She has been active in AACSB International, previously serving two elected terms on the board of directors and as a mentor and peer review team member including chair for multiple schools.

In January 2023, Geralyn was honored as the 20th recipient of the prestigious Max S. Wortman, Jr. Award for Lifetime Achievement in Entrepreneurship by the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship.