Collins College of Business Vision & Mission
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Vision
To be an internationally respected business college known for excellence in education and research.
Mission
We empower the next generation of business leaders.
The Collins College of Business also embraces the overarching principles and goals of the greater university within which the college resides, so we include that mission here.
The University of Tulsa Mission
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We are a student-centered research university that cultivates interconnected learning experiences to explore complex ideas and create new knowledge in a spirit of free inquiry. Guided by our commitment to service and inclusion, we prepare individuals to make meaningful contributions to our campus, our community, and our world.
Office of the Dean
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Akhilesh Bajaj, Ph.D.
Genave King Rogers Dean of the Collins College of Business
akhilesh-bajaj@utulsa.edu
Akhilesh Bajaj, Ph.D., serves as Genave King Rogers Dean of the Collins College of Business at The University of Tulsa, bringing more than two decades of academic and administrative experience to the role. A longtime member of the UTulsa faculty, Bajaj combines a technical background in information systems with broad leadership experience across academic units and university governance.
Bajaj earned his doctorate in management information systems from the University of Arizona, an MBA from Cornell University and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. His academic work focuses on business information systems, data modeling and workflow design. He has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and participated in national and international conferences across the information systems and management fields.
Before joining UTulsa, Bajaj was on the faculty at Carnegie Mellon University, where he taught graduate courses in database systems and enterprise technologies. Earlier in his career, he worked at Citibank in New York as a management associate, gaining experience in systems development and workflow implementation in financial services.
Since arriving at UTulsa in 2003, Bajaj has held a series of leadership roles within the Collins College of Business. He was appointed the James A. Chapman Chair in Computer Information Systems in 2005, and later served as director of the School of Accounting and Business Information Systems from 2021 to 2025. In that role, he led a comprehensive seven-year academic review, coordinated curriculum development and oversaw hiring and evaluation processes for faculty across disciplines. He also served concurrently as interim chair of the Department of Management, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, helping to guide faculty and course planning during a transition period.
At the university level, Bajaj was elected president of the Faculty Senate for the 2021–22 academic year. Working with the president and provost, he helped design a faculty-endorsed academic program review process and participated in multiple university-wide initiatives and committees.
As dean, Bajaj leads a college with a strong regional footprint and aspirations for greater national visibility. The Collins College of Business combines academic rigor with an emphasis on applied learning, preparing students to engage with evolving business challenges through critical thinking, technology fluency and a grounding in core business principles.
