Bio

Arthur Kraft began serving as Chapman's Faculty Athletic Representative in 2012 as the school's primary liaison between Panther athletics and the academic community.

Kraft joined Chapman University as dean of the George L. Argyros School of Business and Economics and Robert J. and Carolyn A. Waltos, Jr. Chair in Business and Economics in January 2006. In his role as dean, Dr. Kraft is responsible for the academic and operational affairs of the college. This includes but is not limited to fundraising, operational and strategic planning, academic accreditation and program reviews, faculty development and recruiting, and accreditation activities of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

Dr. Kraft's involvement with AACSB International includes numerous activities in support of accreditation. He is past chair of the board of directors and served in other leadership positions for AACSB International. He is on the board of the Global Foundation for Management Education. He chairs the nominating committee and the accreditation coordinating committee (ACC). He is a member of the strategic directions committee, the AQ doctoral bridge task force, Committee on Issues in Management Education (CIME) and the executive committee. He served as chair of the pre-accreditation committee (PAC) and as a member of ACC. He has served as the business advisor, pre-candidacy advisor, peer review team member and peer review team chair for several accreditation reviews of academic institutions in the United States and around the world.

A native of Eden, NY, Dr. Kraft served as business school dean at Georgia Institute of Technology, Rutgers University,West Virginia University and DePaul University before he joined Chapman. He began his career in higher education at Ohio University in 1969 and was promoted to full professor of quantitative methods in 1975. He served as professor and associate dean of the College of Business Administration at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln from 1977-83.

Dr. Kraft served as dean of the College of Business and Economics at West Virginia University from 1983-1987. In 1987, he joined Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey, as business school dean and professor of finance and management, becoming the first dean of the newly established School of Business at Rutgers' New Brunswick campus. Six years later, Dr. Kraft became dean of the School of Management at Georgia Institute of Technology, a position he held until 1997. He was professor of international and strategic management from 1997-1999, and served as chair of the school's doctoral program from 1998-1999.

Dr. Kraft, who has experience in both education and government, received his Ph.D. in economics in 1970 and a master's degree in economics in 1969 from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He received his bachelor's degree in mathematics magna cum laude from St. Bonaventure University in 1966.