Dr. Ghazzawi honored with Landis Endowed Professorship

Professor of Management Issam Ghazzawi has been selected as the Richard G. and Beth T. Landis Endowed Professor in Business Leadership and Ethics in the University of La Verne’s College of Business.

The endowed professorship was established in 2013 with a generous gift by the late Richard ’42 and Beth ’44 Landis, who were alumni, foundational leaders, and champions of the University of La Verne for 70 years. The Landis Endowed Professorship was created to play a leading role in making leadership and ethics a distinctive and relevant feature of management education at the College of Business, and to bring recognition to the University of La Verne’s business programs.

Before coming to the University of La Verne, Dr. Ghazzawi worked in industry, with more than 20 years of executive experience and service on multiple advisory boards.

Dr. Ghazzawi serves as the chair of the department of leadership and management and the director of Reach Business Camp. Reach provides underserved yet potentially successful high school students a three week residential experience on campus, culminating in a business plan competition. He has received numerous awards and recognition from the California Assembly, the California Senate, the United States Congress, and the United States Senate for his work with Reach, Enactus, and other community-facing programs. In 2022 he was awarded the Alumni Faculty of Distinction honor for the College of Business.

Ghazzawi’s research focuses on job satisfaction, goal setting, organizational effectiveness, leadership, and organizational commitment.

“A special thank you is due to the University of La Verne’s former President, Dr. Steve Morgan, for his belief in me and for introducing me to the late Richard Landis,” Ghazzawi said, when learning of the appointment. “I created a bond with Richard and had a ritual of having phone conversations every Monday morning. He demonstrated authentic enthusiasm, articulated a clear and hopeful vision for the future, and acted as a positive example. He was deeply involved in, and supportive of, the student programs that I advise—Reach for local high school students, and Enactus for our college students. Thank you for this tremendous honor.”

“An endowed professorship is one of the highest academic honors a faculty member can achieve,” says College of Business Dean Emmeline de Pillis. “We are grateful to the Landis family for their generous gift and proud of Dr. Ghazzawi’s accomplishments. We are pleased to see Dr. Ghazzawi receive this well-deserved recognition.”

Dr. Ghazzawi will begin his three-year appointment this fall.