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Michael Williams, Ph.D., MBA, is the dean of the School of Business and Management at Thomas Edison State University. Appointed in 2013, he is the School’s chief academic and administrative officer.

An entrepreneurial dean and seasoned industry executive, Williams’ tenure is punctuated by numerous School and University milestones. He implemented the School’s scholar-practitioner interdisciplinary curriculum design and the innovative Arc of Degree pathway program, enabling students to progress from undergraduate through doctorate using dual-credit courses and alternative credit options, decreasing cost and time to degree. He also led the School to earn ACBSP accreditation, built the University-wide undergraduate Prior Learning Assessment Reimaged curriculum, co-restructured the University’s Bachelor’s to Master’s Degree program and developed and implemented the University’s Doctor of Business Administration program.

Williams’ business and management education approach is hallmarked by intellectual rigor, applied scholarship and experiential learning. Framed by his extensive experience working with multiple communities, including traditional, non-traditional, underrepresented and military, he enables students and professionals to access higher education, persist and graduate. His educational leadership focuses on career preparation, workforce readiness and professional advancement.

Williams has held senior leadership positions in higher education in public, private and proprietary universities. Previous academic leadership appointments include serving as the dean and full professor of the Graduate School of Business at Touro University in New York City, where he led branch campuses in Moscow and Berlin. He also served as faculty chair for the Human Resource Management, Leadership and Organizational Development Graduate Programs in the Graduate School of Business and Technology at Capella University, Minneapolis, MN.

His executive posts include roles in the life sciences, technology and financial services industries for both national and international corporations. His leadership roles include senior vice president of Human Resources and Organizational Learning, and founding dean of Corporate University for C3i, Inc. (a Telrx company), and senior vice president of Corporate for J.B. Hanauer & Co. (Royal Bank of Canada subsidiary – Dain Rauscher, Inc.). 

Williams holds multiple interdisciplinary graduate degrees, including a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership, Policy and Administration and a Master of Science in Human Resource Management from Fordham University. Additional graduate degrees are in Labor and Employee Relations, Business Administration, Psychoanalysis, Mental Health Counseling, Double Bass Performance and Music Education. He is an International Coaching Union certified master trainer, an ACBSP Certified Accreditation Lead Evaluator and a Licensed Associate Counselor.

Williams’ research interests include a broad spectrum of contemporary topics, including leadership, culture, change and coaching. He is the editor-in-chief of the peer-reviewed International Management Review, an AASCU Becoming a Provost Academy graduate and a frequent keynote speaker and conference presenter.

Alicia Malone is an assistant dean of the School of Business in Management at Thomas Edison State University, where she focuses on undergraduate business programs.

Malone has more than 20 years of experience in higher education administration working with adult students and enabling them to achieve their academic and professional goals. Prior to her appointment as assistant dean, she held leadership positions in the University's registrar, admissions and academic advising offices.

Malone has presented on prior learning assessment at the University's National Institute on the Assessment of Adult Learning and served as vice president of the American Federation of Teachers Local 4277. She currently serves on key academic committees within the University.

Malone earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Rowan University and a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies from Thomas Edison State University.

Susan C. Fischer joined Thomas Edison State University in 2005 and was appointed as administrative assistant in the School of Business and Management in 2008. She serves on the University's Employee Recognition Committee and the New Hire Ambassadors Committee.

Prior to coming to the University, Fischer was employed by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Value Options and CNA Insurance Company (formerly, Continental Insurance Company). Notably, she received two consecutive Customer Service Representative of the Year awards at the McGraw-Hill Companies.

Fischer earned an Associate of Arts degree in Liberal Studies from Thomas Edison State University. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Professional Studies degree at Thomas Edison State University through the University's Bachelor's to Master's Program.

She is the head cheerleading coach of the World Cup All Star, Little Dipper team and a professional member of, and certified by, the U.S. All Star Federation (USASF). Fischer is certified to use automated external defibrillator (AED) and perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) by the American Heart Association.