Harry Dombroski
Harry Dombroski, a longtime Hunt Consolidated and Hunt Oil Co. executive, has been appointed dean of The University of Texas at Arlington College of Business, the university announced in a news release April 24. Dombroski is well known in the Dallas business community as senior vice president at one of the largest privately held companies in the nation.
“As an ‘out-of-the-box’ thinker and results-oriented leader, Harry’s contributions over his 30-plus year career with Hunt were essential to the growth and development of the Hunt family of companies,” said Ray Hunt, executive chairman of Hunt Consolidated Inc.
“I believe that Harry has the skill set to become an absolutely outstanding dean of the UTA College of Business. Further, as a graduate of UTA, he has the ability to differentiate himself and UTA in the very competitive marketplace of higher education in North Texas,” Hunt said in the news release.
UTA President Vistasp Karbhari said the addition of Dombroski will give the College of Business a needed touchstone to the business community.
“The search committee brought a tremendous slate of highly distinguished and accomplished candidates to campus and I’m thrilled that we were able to recruit Harry Dombroski to be the next dean of the College of Business,” Karbhari said in the release.
“Harry is a visionary leader who will raise the visibility of the college, enhance its stature through transformative advances and propel the College of Business into a position of international competitiveness while ensuring that it becomes the ‘go to’ place for business acumen globally,” Karbhari said. “We are located in one of the largest and fastest growing economies in the nation and our College of Business needs to be right at the center of this growth.”
“It is always an intrinsic blessing to come full circle in one’s career. When I graduated from UTA in 1979, I was prepped and ready to enter the workforce,” Dombroski said. “The education that I received at UTA was the spark that fueled a long, rewarding career. I look forward to being able to pay that back to current UTA students and future graduates.”
UTA’s commitment to greater engagement with the corporate world, focus on being the very best through transformative changes and modernizing offerings based on the needs of the workforce was a key reason for his appointment, the university said.
“Harry doesn’t come from the traditional academic side of the house. However, he has been very engaged with our faculty and students over many years,” said Teik C. Lim, UTA provost and vice president for academic affairs. “Harry knows the desires of employers and how to match the rapid change of the industry. Bringing in a person with that firsthand knowledge will better position UTA amongst business leaders and help to serve our students with better opportunities after they graduate.”
His first day as dean will be Monday, April 30.