Joseph “Joe” Sprangel, Jr.

BA, Eastern Michigan University; MBA, Spring Arbor University; PhD, Lawrence Technological University. View video interview

Joe Sprangel is the founding dean of the College of Business & Professional Studies beginning in July of 2016 at Mary Baldwin University (MBU). He leads the undergraduate departments of business, criminal justice, healthcare administration and social work. Joe is also the architect of the Master of Business Administration degree that is part of the Susan Nolan Palmer Graduate Programs.

Previous to this position as dean he was an associate professor of business administration and department co-chair at MBU. His teaching focus was on sustainable development or “triple bottom line” business management with course offerings of Business Senior Seminar, Management Principles, Perspectives in Sustainability, Project Management, and Strategy & Sustainability in Business Decisions. His research areas of interest are business adoption and entrepreneurial startups focused on sustainable development practices. He placed additional emphasis on B Corps and benefit corporations that are part of the emerging for-benefit or fourth sector.

Before joining the Mary Baldwin faculty in 2010, Sprangel taught at Ithaca College for three years, where his classes included Operations Management in the undergraduate program and Decision Support Analysis and Sustainable Practices in Operations & Technology in the MBA program. His classroom experience also included adjunct work at Spring Arbor University and Lawrence Technological University teaching Change Management, Operations Management, Organizational Behavior, and Strategy courses in the undergraduate and graduate programs.

He brings 28 years of industry experience to the position. This included work in machine build and repair, machine design, manufacturing engineering, and plant and engineering management. This led to his interest in developing courses and programs with emphasis on learning while doing with assignments and projects that replicate the work done in industry.

Sprangel earned a Doctorate of Business Administration degree from Lawrence Technological University. His dissertation research was “A Study of the Direct and Mediational Effects of the SOAR™ Framework, Trust, and Environmental Management Systems on Chemical Management Services Supplier Performance at Haas TCM Group”. He also holds degrees of Master of Business Administration from Spring Arbor University, Bachelor of Business Administration from Eastern Michigan University, and an Associate Degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology.