INFORMATION FOR
Every month during the academic year, we will spotlight a different member of the WP faculty or staff who plays a powerful role in student success.
Name: Stephen C. Betts
Title: Professor of Management
Years at WP: 23 fulltime
Tell us about yourself: My history with William Paterson began 10 years before I was born. My parents met on the first day of class here in 1949. My mother graduated Paterson State Teachers College and my father transferred and finished at Rutgers. Later, they both worked on campus. I went to NJIT and Rutgers, and I joined WP as an adjunct in 1991 and full-time faculty in 2001.
Before becoming a professor full-time, I was an engineer, HR consultant, independent film and stage actor, fight choreographer, and a few other things.
My wife Terry and I have a son; John is 3 and a half years old and he is amazing. I tell people that he is WP Class of 2043.
Describe your role on campus: I am a professor in the Management, Marketing and Professional Sales Department in our Cotsakos College of Business. I am honored to also be part of the EdD in Leadership program in our College of Education. I like to get my nose in everything, so I serve on a lot of committees and get involved with campus initiatives. I am particularly proud of our growing Human Resource Management MBA concentration and the development of our Applied Business Analytics programs.
A defining moment at WP: I treasured coming to campus on a high school class trip to see Thad Jones, the founding director of WP's great jazz program. However, my earliest memory at WP is from when I was seven years old. I learned to fly a kite at an Admissions open house. Someone showed me that if you tied a second ball of string to the first, your kite would fly twice as high! That was the best idea ever!
Favorite part about your job: Currently, I teach the MBA capstone course. I like fulfilling our commitment to “meet students where they are” with the MBA Action Learning Project. Each student undertakes a real project where they work with a real small business to build their skills and reputation. Recently we’ve had students analyze importing Italian deserts, write a business plan for a mobile café truck, devise a marketing strategy for a wedding planner, and develop an employee well-being plan at work, among other examples.
Fun fact: I’ll give you two: I won a demolition derby (trophy is in my office), and I played MacDuff (and choreographed the fights).
Finish this sentence: "WP is a powerhouse of change." Through education, mentoring, and community involvement, William Paterson University changes lives.
