Brian Kench, Ph.D.

Brian Kench, Ph.D. Image
Dean, Pompea College of Business

Pompea College of Business
Education

Ph.D., Economics, University of Connecticut, 2000
M.A., Economics, University of Connecticut, 1997
B.A., Economics, Framingham State University, 1994

About Brian

Brian T. Kench, Dean of the Pompea College of Business at the University of New Haven, is an expert in behavioral and experimental economics and the economics of organization. He is a consultant in the areas of unemployment, economic damages and economic impact analysis, and he is frequently asked for his commentary.

As a higher education leader, Kench has spent the past 25 years helping universities excel by focusing on talent acquisition, cost efficiencies, and development needs of students, faculty and organizations. Working closely with faculty and staff he has led increases in enrollment, rankings, retention, diversity and inclusion, student placement and satisfaction, faculty recruiting, alumni engagement, corporate partnering, fundraising, new curriculum design, and the development and launch of online degree programs.

As Dean of the University of New Haven’s AACSB‐accredited Pompea College of Business, he led the effort to fundamentally change the reputation of the business college by repositioning it to become a leader of programs at the intersection of business and technology. The college was among the first five business colleges in the United States to offer STEM designated business programs. Today, 65% of all students and 75% of all graduate students are enrolled in one of our STEM programs.

Dean Kench and the business faculty reinvented the value proposition for business students and families by creating fast-track 3+1 dual-degree options for all undergraduate business programs. Fast-track students are able to complete their 121-credit hour BS degree in three years and their 34-credit hour MBA in one-year. The four-year graduation rate for fast-track students is 89%.

Over the last decade, the business college has doubled down on transformational hands-on student experiences. Today, first-year business students write a business plan and pitch it to entrepreneurs and seasoned executives at the semi-annual Pompea Business Plan Expo. Students work on consulting projects for real clients as part of their capstone experience. The Liberty Initiative provides paid fellowships to scores of students to work on client research projects. Business students manage one of the only ESG focused student investment portfolios in the U.S., named the Gaia fund. And hundreds of students each semester secure paid internships and coop opportunities. The results have been spectacular. The 6-month job-placement or graduate school attendance rate for undergraduate business students is 99% and 97% for our graduate students.

Dean Kench also led the effort in 2015-2016 that founded the inaugural university-wide interdisciplinary academic department for entrepreneurship and innovation. This was followed by moving the business college’s CAHME accredited MHA program into an interdisciplinary Health Sciences department with programs from our criminal justice and forensic sciences and arts and sciences colleges. The department became the School of Health Sciences in 2018. The interdisciplinary department structure served as a model for the University Interdisciplinary Collaborative, a university-wide administrative structure to foster collaboration across colleges and schools.

Prior to coming to the University of New Haven, Dr. Kench was chair and professor of economics at the Sykes College of Business at the University of Tampa, where he was the 2009 and 2012 recipient of the university’s Teaching Excellence Award, and he received the College of Business’s Researcher of the Year Award in 2008.

He has served as a visiting professor of economics at the University of New Hampshire, an adjunct professor of economics at Bentley University, and an instructor of economics at the University of Connecticut.

He received his B.A. in economics from Framingham State University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Connecticut.

Experience

University of New Haven , AACSB International and NEASC accredited, West Haven, CT 06516

2015-date, Dean and Professor of Economics, Pompea College of Business (tenured)
The University of Tampa , AACSB International and SACS accredited, Tampa, FL 33606

2014-2015, Professor of Economics (tenured)
2008-2013, Associate Professor of Economics (tenured)
2002-2007, Assistant Professor of Economics

The University of New Hampshire , 2000-2002, Visiting Assistant Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, AACSB International accredited, Durham, NH 03824-3593

Bentley University , Spring 2000, Adjunct Faculty of Economics, Department of Economics, AACSB International accredited, Waltham, MA 02452

The University of Connecticut , 1997-2000, Instructor of Economics, Department of Economics, Storrs, CT 06269-1063

Peer Reviewed Academic Journals

"Using Peer Effects to Explain Retention Rates in a Private University" (with J. Stinespring and K. Borja), Higher Education Quarterly, 2020, 74(3): 334-346.

"Basic Economics of the Export-Import Bank" (with Robert Beekman), Mercatus on Policy, 2015.

"The Moral Hazard of Mandatory Membership in Private Clubs" (with L. Hoke and C. Skipton), Research in Business and Economics Journal, 2013, vol. 8. (Acceptance rate: 20%, Source: Cabell Publishing.)

"Dynamic Transaction Costs and Firm Boundaries in the Soft Drink Industry" (with H.S. Wallace and T. Knox), Journal of Economics and Economics Education Research, 2012, 13(1): 33-51. (Acceptance rate: 21-30%, Source: Cabell Publishing.)

"Of Altruists & Thieves" (with N. Niman), Eastern Economic Journal, 2010, 36(3): 317-343. (Acceptance rate: 25-35%, Source: Cabell Publishing.)

"The Influence of Psychological Type and Interpersonal Needs in Social Dilemmas: A Public Goods Experiment with Punishment" (with R. Beekman, N. Niman, and G. Wynn), Journal of Psychological Type, 2010, 70 (January): pp. 1-17.

"From Crunch to Crisis in the Interbank Lending Market" (with J. Stinespring), Journal of Financial Transformation, (2009), 27, pp. 63-68. (Acceptance rate: 6-10%, Source: Cabell Publishing.)

"Innovation, Capabilities, and Organizational Economics: Lessons from the Business Strategy Literature," (with Trevor Knox & H. Scott Wallace), Journal of Business Disciplines, (2006), VII (1): 45-58. (Acceptance rate: 11-20%, Source: Cabell Publishing.)

"Let's Get Physical! Or Financial? A Study of Electricity Transmission Rights," Journal of Regulatory Economics, (2004), 25(2): 187-213. (Acceptance rate: 21-30%, Source: Cabell Publishing.)

Professional Memberships

AACSB International, American Economic Association, Academy of Business Economics, Southern Economic Association, Economic Science Association, Omicron Delta Epsilon, Delta Sigma Pi, Beta Gamma Sigma

Grants, Awards and Distinctions

Awarded the 2012 Teaching Excellence Award by the John H. Sykes Pompea College of Business at The University of Tampa for Excellence in Teaching.

Awarded the 2011 Distinguished Paper Award by Academy of Business Economics. Paper title: "The Economics of Vertical Integration Revisited."

Awarded sabbatical for the fall of 2009. Project title: Economics for the Global Economy.

Awarded the 2009 Teaching Excellence Award by the John H. Sykes Pompea College of Business at The University of Tampa for Excellence in Teaching.

Awarded the 2008 Researcher of the Year Award by the John H. Sykes Pompea College of Business at The University of Tampa for Excellence in Scholarship.

Awarded the David Delo Research Professor Grant (2003, and 2005-2008).

Awarded the University of Tampa Dana Faculty Development Grant (2003-2009, 2011-2012).

Awarded the 2006 Distinguished Paper Award by Academy of Business Economics. Paper title: "Strong Altruism: An Element in the Emergence of Public Institutions." Updated paper title: "Strong Altruism & Moral Sentiments: Toward a Greater Understanding of Group Behavior."

Awarded John H. Sykes Pompea College of Business Mini Sabbatical (spring 2007 and fall 2005).

Awarded research support from the National Grid Company (2002).

Awarded the University of Connecticut's Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship (2000).

Awarded the University of Connecticut's Research Foundation Grant (2000).

Awarded the University of Connecticut's Institute for Teaching & Learning Large Grant (January, 1999, with Dennis Heffley).

Honorable mention recipient of W. Harrison Carter Award for excellence in teaching (1998).

In the Media

In the Media

Poets & Quants: STEM MBA Programs At U.S. B-Schools

Brian T. Kench, noted economist and dean of the Pompea College of Business, discusses the new STEM certified undergraduate and graduate business programs, including a "one of a kind" MS in sports management with a concentration in business analytics.