From 1994 to June, 2013, Dr. Beheruz N. Sethna served as President of the institution now known as the University of West Georgia (UWG). When he retired, he was the longest-serving University President in the State of Georgia (among both, public and private colleges and universities). The following accomplishments are shared ones, and reflect the work of several other colleagues and supporters.

During Dr. Sethna’s tenure as President, the institution saw transformative change from a College to a State University to a Ph.D.-granting SACS Level VI University (this is SACS’s highest level – e.g. the best private and public universities in the South are SACS Level VI, such as the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, U of Texas, U of Virginia, Emory, etc.).  In August of 2013, the Board approved a sector change for UWG to a Comprehensive University with a mission to be a world-class academic institution.

During Dr. Sethna’s tenure, UWG’s academic standards increased several times and full-time equivalent enrollment increased by approximately 50 percent to close to 12,000 students. 

Almost 40 new buildings were added during Dr. Sethna’s tenure at UWG.  More square footage was added than every other President combined since the institution started in 1906 – at an investment of almost one third of a billion dollars of new construction and renovation funds.

During his tenure, UWG awarded 33,000+ degrees, more than every other President combined in the institution’s history (107 years, at the time he retired from his presidency).

During his administration, the endowment was increased by more than 10 times its 1994 level.

Dr. Sethna has also served two terms in 1999-2000 and 2006-07 (each 12-15 months long) on an interim basis as Senior and then Executive Vice Chancellor for the entire University System of Georgia. He had functional responsibility for approximately 260,000 students and 10,000 faculty members, in all 35 public institutions in the State, including four Research Universities, 15 Comprehensive Universities, and 16 Two-year and State Colleges, in the following areas: Academic Affairs (all program and faculty decisions), Student Affairs (including admissions, registrars, and other student-related matters), Planning and Policy Analysis (research on University System data), the Office of Information and Instructional Technology (all technology decisions, including Y2K implementation, PeachNet – the Statewide backbone, and related areas) and (in 2006) Fiscal Affairs for part of the term.  Plus: In 2006-07 as Executive Vice Chancellor, he had line responsibility for all 15 Comprehensive Universities, in which these Presidents reported to him. 

As Tom Peters said, the best leaders don’t create followers; they create more leaders: Dr. Sethna has helped develop, mentor, and/or give opportunities to many senior administrators, some of whom have reached the position of President and Vice Chancellor. He served as a Presidential Mentor for the American Council on Education’s Spectrum program, from which at least two of his protégés have risen to presidencies.

In December of 2013, after his retirement from the position of President, he was given the University of West Georgia’s highest honor, The Founder’s Award.

Dr. Sethna is the first known person of Indian origin ever to become President of a University in America. 

He was also the first person of any ethnic minority to become president of a college or university in Georgia other than a historically black college.

OTHER RECOGNITIONS, HONORS, AND AWARDS:

Although Dr. Sethna would be the first to state that UWG’s accomplishments have been a team effort, perhaps some of that recognition falls to its President of 19 years.  For example, among other things, UWG became nationally known in academic debate and undergraduate research.  UWG won two national championships in academic debate, and beat Harvard four times in his last five years as President.  During a 15-year time span, UWG beat every university in America 8 times in undergraduate research papers accepted at the National Collegiate Honors Council. UWG won seven first prizes at the National Social Sciences Association – 6 of the 7 were from Dr. Sethna’s class; he taught a course each year as President.  He was elected Honors Professor of the Year by the students of the Honors College.

He has received personal Resolutions of Commendation from the Governor of the State of Georgia, the Senate, and the House of the State of Georgia, and from the State of Georgia Board of Regents, and was named among the 100 Most Influential Georgians six times.

The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia has also awarded him several other honors.  He was given a very rare honor by the governing board, the title of Regents’ Professor, the only one in UWG history, and also named him President Emeritus.  Earlier, the Board awarded Dr. Sethna the prestigious Cornerstone Award, which is not an annual award, but is given occasionally.  In 2012-13 UWG was named the Customer Service institution of the Year, and Dr. Sethna the Customer Service President of the Year.

He has had hundreds of media appearances to his credit based on his academic work and his administrative contributions, including national TV appearances such as the CBS Early Show with Bryant Gumbel and CNN's American Stories. 

Dr. Sethna has also earned a large number of academic honors.  Perhaps most distinctive is his record of being nationally recognized for instructional innovation by the Decision Sciences Institute eight times.  (No other person in the history of this national competition has been so honored more than two times.)  He also has an extensive record in the field of undergraduate research, briefly described on the following page.

He has coauthored a book, Research Methods in Marketing and Management. He has also published 75 papers, several case studies, and obtained externally funded research from the U.S. Department of Energy, IBM, AT&T and others. He is also a Certified Computing Professional (# 029949; since 1985).

Dr. Sethna is a Distinguished Alumnus of the two most prestigious higher education institutions in India/Asia: IIT-Bombay and IIM-Ahmedabad.  It is estimated that no more than a handful of people hold both these honors.  Dr. Sethna has been personally honored by universities and University Presidents in China, Japan, Korea, Saudi Arabia, and countries in Europe; and also by Vice Chancellors and Board Chairs in India.  Dr. Sethna has been an invited speaker at hundreds of meetings, and at universities in many U.S. states and foreign countries, including three times at the University of Oxford in England; he has also been the keynote speaker at various corporate forums.

He has been a Fulbright Professor and has taught at some of the most prestigious institutions in India and South Asia.  He also taught a landmark program in computers in Nepal – taught to senior professionals from the national Government, Higher Education, and the corporate sector.

On July 4, 2014, he was honored by the Carnegie Corporation by being named one of the “Great Immigrants – The Pride of America” http://greatimmigrants.carnegie.org/profile/beheruz-sethna/

POST-ADMINISTRATION HONORS AND ACTIVITIES:

Since he retired from administration in June of 2013, Dr. Sethna continues as a full-time faculty member at UWG, with two combined faculty titles. He is a Regents’ Professor, the first and only such person at UWG to be awarded this honor by the Board of Regents in the 100+ year history of the institution. He is also the “Beheruz N. Sethna Distinguished Scholar,” the first holder of an ongoing honor which will be awarded to another distinguished faculty member upon his eventual retirement; the award will continue to bear his name. Some of his other academic accomplishments and honors are mentioned below.

In 2014, his course was selected on the basis of a national competition sponsored by the Decision Sciences Institute as one of the three most innovative courses in America.  An earlier version of this work had received the same honor in 2004.

His teaching evaluations continue to be in high 4s on a 5-point scale, sometimes as high as 5 on a 5-point scale, in which every student gave him a 5 out of 5 on every dimension of instructor evaluation.

Guiding undergraduate research continues to be his major academic activity.  This is very significant, because making competitive national research presentations is not normal for undergraduates, particularly those as young as his students, some of whom have been 15-16 years old at the time.  Many students have written to Dr. Sethna years after taking his course to say how much they have benefited from the rigorous instruction they received, and the opportunities for national accomplishments. 

Over the past several years, teams of undergraduate students working under his guidance have had seven journal articles published or accepted, some of them with Dr. Sethna as a co-author.

Dr. Sethna’s students and he have crossed a major milestone in undergraduate research.  Since 2003, 197 of his undergraduate students, plus 5 graduate students, have had their work accepted for presentation to at least one national conference; some more than one, for a total of 290 such national acceptances. In addition, his students have garnered six national first prizes for undergraduate research, and one at the graduate level, at the National Social Sciences Association.

In 2017, Dr. Sethna was elected Beta Gamma Sigma Professor of the Year by students in the Honor Society for Business. He has also received multiple Faculty Research, Teaching, and Service Awards in the Richards College of Business, most recently in 2023.

Since he retired from the position of President in June of 2013, he has had 12 journal articles (single-author and co-authored) published, plus a forthcoming one.  Over his career, he has had more than 80 publications.

In academic circles, one measure of performance in addition to the publication of articles, is the number of times a faculty member’s publications are cited by authors of other publications.  According to Google Scholar, Dr. Sethna’s work has been cited in over 1,930 other publications.