USF dean to lose title, but garners awards

By MARY JANE PARK
Published October 24, 2005

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It was a day of accolades last week for Ron Hill, founding dean of the College of Business at the University of South Florida at St. Petersburg.

A group called Beyond Grey Pinstripes, which surveys and ranks business schools throughout the world every two years, listed the college as the Top Small School in the country on Wednesday.

That evening, Hill and Larry Newsome, who heads the real estate companies Urban Development Solutions and Aracle Realty, received the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce's special awards for outstanding contributions to the betterment of the community.

The recognition had to be bittersweet for Hill. University officials are relieving him of his title as dean. He will become a tenured professor at the end of the school term in December.

USF St. Petersburg's College of Business has been an independent school for only two years. Hill said the hope was that it would be listed in Beyond Grey Pinstripes' top 100. The special award recognizes its emphasis on social and environmental issues.