David Blackwell, Dean, University of South Florida Muma College of Business

August 2026 —In an interview with Invest:, David Blackwell, dean of the University of South Florida Muma College of Business, discussed how the college is aligning its programs with a rapidly changing business environment shaped by artificial intelligence, specialized workforce needs, and deeper industry engagement. “The faculty is the foundation for the quality of programs that our students receive,” Blackwell said, as he outlined priorities around curriculum innovation, student career readiness, faculty investment, and expanded partnerships across Tampa Bay.

What changes over the past year have had the greatest impact on the college?

I think the increasing prevalence of AI in the workplace has had the greatest impact, especially in terms of the first employment opportunities for our graduates. It has become essential to make sure our graduates are prepared for AI in the workplace and, in particular, that they are fluent in AI and understand how it applies within the context they are working in and within the discipline they are entering. That is the biggest change I have seen in the last year.

What recent developments or initiatives at the college are you particularly excited about?

In the context of AI, we had already started integrating AI into our curriculum across all majors, certainly in more advanced courses, and also in the core courses in each discipline. We are requiring some engagement with AI within those courses so that students begin using these tools in meaningful ways before they graduate.

More recently, we created a course in our core curriculum that every student must take to gain literacy in AI. At that stage, the goal may not be full fluency, but certainly literacy, so that students understand not only how AI can enhance their academic experience in an ethical and honest way, but also how to begin applying it in a business context. That is an important step for us because it ensures every student has a baseline understanding of AI regardless of major.

How is the college positioning itself to attract top-tier students and faculty?

We are naturally attracting great students, and I think that is because of the experience they have while they are students in the Muma College of Business, but also because of the extraordinary support they receive as they prepare to enter the workplace. We have a center called the Bellini Center for Talent Development, and it is a unique program in higher education, certainly unique in business schools, in that we have embedded workplace readiness directly into the curriculum.

A student has to engage with career readiness from the very first year, and that development builds each year until the student is ready for a first paid internship and, after that, ready to enter the workplace with what are often called soft skills, but what I would really call employability skills, in addition to strength in a disciplinary area. I think the existence of that programming, combined with world-class faculty who are on the cutting edge of their disciplines and an innovative curriculum more broadly, attracts students to our college. We also have success in placing our students into strong careers that are well paid, and that continuing emphasis makes the college even more attractive.

On the faculty side, it is important to recognize that nearly three years ago, the University of South Florida was invited to become a member of the American Association of Universities (AAU), which includes the top 71 research universities in North America. That designation matters because it signals that the university has been recognized as a top research institution, and that in itself makes us more attractive to top faculty.

Within the college, our strategic plan has prioritized faculty development. That means better supporting faculty in their research, which keeps them at the cutting edge of their disciplines. At a research university, the work faculty do in research changes the product our students receive in the classroom.

To attract faculty who can produce at that level, we have to support them with summer grants, because most faculty are on nine-month appointments, and we need to fund their research efforts during the summer. We are doing that, and we are also paying competitive salaries. Business school faculty command very high salaries, and I am doing the very best I can to meet market demands so we can attract the very best faculty to USF.

What major trends are you seeing in business education and the broader market?

I think there has been more interest in recent years in industry-specific degree programs and credentials. In other words, there is growing demand for more specialized master’s degrees that go beyond the general Master of Business Administration (MBA). Students and employers alike are looking for programs that go deeper into specific areas of need.

For example, this year we launched a Master of Science in Fintech. That program aligns very well with the Muma College’s emphasis on information systems and technology. We have a very strong school of information systems and a very strong school of finance, so offering a Master of Science in Fintech meets a real workforce demand while also making us more attractive to students who have strong quantitative ability and want to work in that kind of environment.

Another example is real estate. We see a gap and a clear demand for real estate professionals, and we currently do not have a major in real estate. We are in the process of creating that, and we are also creating a Master of Science in real estate. We are definitely seeing increased demand for those more focused degrees.

The other dimension is the need for industry professionals to stay current and add to their skill sets as they move through their organizations. We recently started a Center for Executive and Leadership Education that addresses the needs of professionals from middle management all the way to the C-suite. We ask what skills middle managers need to advance to the next level and ultimately to be ready for executive leadership.

That takes two forms. One is what we call open-enrollment programs, which focus on generalized leadership and communication skills that anyone in the community can enroll in. The other is custom programming, where we go into an organization, evaluate its leadership and succession-planning needs, and design a bespoke program for that organization in its specific industry context. We launched that center this year, and we are pursuing new clients aggressively in order to expand our reach and our service to local industry.

How is the college strengthening its engagement with the Tampa Bay business community?

The Muma College of Business already has very strong connections to the business community, and those relationships take many forms. Many of our programs and centers have advisory groups made up of industry leaders who provide input on the direction of our curriculum. They also help connect students with internships and permanent job placements, and they support research and other forms of engagement.

We completed an inventory of our corporate partnerships across the entire college, including our various centers, in the last month or so. We found that we have 614 distinct corporate partners at different levels of engagement. Probably around 100 of those are very major organizations with a much deeper level of involvement. I am very proud of the extent of our involvement in the community.

Our challenge now is to focus that engagement and make sure we stay in touch with those partners so that we are meeting their needs and directing them to the right resource, either within the Muma College of Business or across USF more broadly. The foundation is already there. The next step is to be even more intentional about how we manage and deepen those relationships.

What are your key goals and priorities for the next two to three years?

The number one priority is to continue to build and invest in the faculty. The faculty is the foundation for the quality of programs that our students receive. It is also important for the university and for the college that we continue to contribute new knowledge through research to our respective disciplines.

Our enrollment is growing rapidly. We are certainly at around 9,000 students now, and over the next two to three years I can see that growing to 10,000 students. That means I need to attract new faculty in order to maintain quality instruction and bring our student-faculty ratio in line with our strategic benchmarks. That is the first challenge, and it means finding the resources to make those hires.

Part of how we generate new resources is by growing the master’s programs I described. As those programs grow, the resources come directly to the college rather than through the state budget process, and that allows us to invest in faculty for those programs. Executive education is another important way for us to generate new resources and strengthen the foundations of the college. Then, of course, philanthropy is critical. We are always out in the community visiting with alumni, friends, and corporate partners and seeking private investment in the college. That is a major part of how we bring in additional resources to advance excellence.

Finally, we are not only constrained on faculty, but also on space. The college needs new space, modern space, and more space to accommodate more faculty and more students. I am actively working on raising money to build a new facility here in Tampa. That is an important part of the future because if we are going to continue growing and serving students at a high level, we need the physical environment to match that ambition.