Coughlan stepping down as associate dean of University of Richmond's Robins School of Business

September 4, 2015

Richard Coughlan, senior associate dean of University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business, is stepping down from his administrative role after 12 years of service and will be returning to the faculty of the school at the end of the fall semester.

“I look forward to remaining involved in the important work of educating undergraduates and professionals here at Richmond while finding a bit more time for reflection and conversation with my colleagues, friends and former students,” Coughlan said.

“I am sorry to lose his talents as an administrator,” said Dean Nancy Bagranoff. “However, I am pleased for him that following a much deserved sabbatical, he will be able to have more flexibility in his schedule and time to pursue more teaching and scholarship.”

Coughlan will continue to serve the Robins School of Business in many ways. He will devote more time to his scholarship on accountability, ethical decision-making and stakeholder management. He will continue to conduct C-Suite Conversations and will increase the frequency and reach of the “Dialogue on Decision Making” podcasts.

During the past twelve years, Coughlan has had many successes in leading the Robins School of Business graduate business and executive education programs. 

  • He worked with executives at Media General to create a Leadership Development Program taught by Robins School faculty in 2005. 
  • In 2009, he won the Chairman’s Challenge Award from the Virginia Minority Supplier Development Council for his work in creating an Executive Management Program for CEOs of minority-owned businesses.
  • He led a significant revision of the MBA curriculum in 2013 that has resulted in larger entering classes for each of the last three years. 
  • Over the last six years, more than 80 percent of those offered admission to the MBA program have enrolled. This represents an increase from a yield of 68 percent in the four years before he became director.

Coughlan has also been an effective leader and performed service in other capacities.

  • In 2011, he launched the C-Suite Conversations series, which has welcomed more than 20 executives to the Robins School for unscripted interviews on leadership and decision-making.
  • He created a podcast series, “Dialogue on Decision Making,” that educates and entertains listeners around the themes of decision-making.
  • He was recently elected chairman of the governance committee of the Board of Directors at InnerWill, a non-profit institute to broaden the understanding and promotion of values-based leadership.
  • He is currently president-elect of the Richmond Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth.
  • He serves on the 2015 Advisory Board of the Virginia Council of CEOs.

Randy Raggio will fill the role of associate dean for Graduate Business and Executive Education. At Richmond, he has served on the Robins School Executive Education Advisory Committee and recently was a member of the Robins School Graduate Business Programs Task Force.

Raggio has taught in MBA programs at three different universities and has taught in UR’s MBA program each year since his arrival in 2010. He has supervised eight Robins School MBA capstone projects and five MBA Independent Study courses. He has written the last three cases for the MBA Opening Residency. Professor Raggio has taught extensively in the Executive Education programs, including the signature Mini MBA. He worked with Bob Piazza, director of Executive Education, to develop and deliver leadership training in Myanmar through the DeBoer Foundation. 

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