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Dr. Richard Buttimer begins as new dean of the Coggin College of Business

Dr. Richard Buttimer has officially started his position as the new dean of the Coggin College of Business.Richard Buttimer

He joins UNF after 18 years at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC) where he worked in a variety of positions. He served as the director of the Childress Klein Center for Real Estate and the John Crosland, Sr. Distinguished Professor in the Department of Finance in the Belk College of Business at UNC. He also served as the interim senior associate dean for the Belk College, having served as the full-time senior associate dean from 2011 through 2017.

When choosing to make the move to UNF, Buttimer said he was attracted to the growth potential of the University as well as the vision of its administration. “President Szymanski and Provost Rhodes talked about a vision of UNF becoming a R2 institution and, as outlined in the UNF Strategic Plan, a top 100 Public University, and Coggin College will be a part of that,” Buttimer said. “If you look at every major city in the country that has started to reach the 2 million mark of population, they all have a great university and a great business school. Clearly UNF will be that for Jacksonville as it continues to grow.”

Among the many aspects of the position, Buttimer sees his primary focus as strengthening and enhancing the existing connection between Coggin and the business community. “My view is that my job is really to be out in the community working hard not only to represent Coggin, but also to explain to the community what we already do and what we can do to help the business community,” he said. In fact, he’s already begun talking with business leaders who say they want to partner with the University, so he believes there will be many opportunities to grow relationships.

We look forward to Dr. Buttimer’s journey as dean of the Coggin College of Business and welcome him to the Osprey community!