Samuel Wathen, professor of management and associate dean, has been named interim dean of the E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration at Coastal Carolina University, according to an announcement today from University Provost Robert Sheehan.

Wathen, who joined the Coastal faculty in 1993, will be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the college. He was interim dean of the business college during 2006-2007 and has been an associate dean since 2004.

Henry Lowenstein, former dean of the Wall College, stepped down from that position in December, 2009 to return to his faculty position as professor of management in the classroom and to engage in research and consultation that focuses on supporting local economic development and business outreach. He had been dean of the college since Fall, 2007, and previously served as dean and chair at two other universities.

Wathen teaches statistics, decision analysis and operations management. He is published in the areas of manufacturing strategy, service process design and productivity. He is also interested in continuous improvement of teaching methods. Wathen is a co-author of "Statistical Techniques in Business and Economics" and "Basic Statistics for Business and Economics," both published by McGraw-Hill Irwin. Wathen earned a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota specializing in operations management, an MBA from Oklahoma State University, a master's degree in forestry from Virginia Tech, and a bachelor's degree in forestry from the University of Illinois.