Shannon Maher is the Interim Dean for the Jay and Patty Baker School of Business and Technology, overseeing the school’s four associate and 10 baccalaureate programs. Dean Maher served as a faculty member and chair of the school’s Home Products Development department from 2013 to 2020. She has been an active member of the college community, serving with distinction on a diversity of college-wide and faculty senate committees. She was co-chair of the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs committee – the committee that guided the school to its successful accreditation.
Prior to joining academia, Dean Maher spent 20 years in the manufacturing and retail sectors of the apparel and home goods industries including as Vice President of Hanover Direct, Inc. and held product development, management and merchandising positions with CHF Industries, Dan River, Inc., French Country Living, Parigi Group, Ltd, and Russell Corporation/Moving Comfort. She holds memberships in the AATCC, CMG, IFDA, and received her Greenleaders Certificate from the Sustainable Furnishings Council. With extensive experience in merchandising, product development, sourcing, and strategy, she continues to be active in the industry as a strategic product development consultant having partnered with Ross Stores, AlixPartners, SUN Capital and KPMG.
Professor Maher earned her BA, summa cum laude, in Fashion Marketing & Merchandising from Marymount University in Arlington, Va., her MA in Integrated Marketing Communications at Marist College, and certificates from the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard and Psychology of Leadership from Cornell University.
