Photo courtesy of Pepperdine University
In a Dec. 1 email to University faculty, staff and Graziadio students, President Jim Gash announced Deryck van Rensburg will conclude his role as Graziadio Business School dean at the end of the spring semester.
Van Rensburg plans to take a sabbatical for the 2022-23 academic year and return in the fall 2023 semester as a faculty scholar, Gash wrote.
“It has been a privilege to learn from and serve alongside Deryck in these last two years,” Gash wrote. “Please join me in expressing our deep appreciation to Dean van Rensburg for his years of service leading Graziadio and wishing him well as he begins the next chapter of his career at Pepperdine.”
Van Rensburg began his career at the University in 2016 and is in his sixth year at Graziadio. His passion for the development of innovative, “best for the world” leaders shapes the school’s ASPIRE 2025 strategic vision, Gash wrote.
Graziadio has also risen in rankings among its various programs under van Rensburg’s leadership, Gash wrote. Van Rensburg’s work to advance new initiatives, including the doctor of business administration program, has further elevated the school’s reputation and academic offerings.
Before joining the Graziadio community, van Rensburg had more than 30 years of international business experience, along with holding executive positions at Unilever and the Coca-Cola Company, Gash wrote.
The Los Angeles Business Journal’s LA500 list of impactful and influential leaders in LA named van Rensburg for four consecutive years since 2018, Gash wrote. Additionally, van Rensburg has been actively involved in community service and has served as a board member of Focus on the Family, a global Christian ministry.
“He is a person of sincere faith who has enriched the Christian community that shapes Pepperdine’s institutional identity,” Gash wrote.
Gash wrote an executive search firm and an internal search committee led by Provost Jay Brewster will launch a search across the United States in the upcoming weeks to name the new dean by April 2022.
“Deryck’s friendship and counsel have been invaluable since I have become president, and I am grateful he will continue to serve in the months ahead as we begin the search for the Graziadio School’s next dean,” Gash wrote.
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Contact Emily Shaw via Twitter (@shawcemily) or by email: emily.c.shaw@pepperdine.edu
