UNC Charlotte announced Friday that Steven Ott, director of UNC Charlotte’s Center for Real Estate, will be the interim dean of the Belk College of Business Administration.

Ott, who was named an Academic Fellow of the Urban Land Institute last month, will start July 1. Ott joined the UNCC faculty in 1999.

Ott temporarily replaces Claude Lilly, who will become dean of the College of Business and Behavioral Sciences at Clemson University, UNCC Provost Joan Lorden announced Friday. Lilly’s last day is June 30.

Lilly helped expand Belk College’s graduate programs, adding a master’s degree in mathematical finance, an MBA concentration and graduate certificate in real estate, a doctorate in business administration, and an MBA in sports marketing and management.

He also helped expand the college’s international programs, which now include MBA programs in Mexico, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and faculty and student exchanges with top universities in Asia and Europe.

UNCC will search nationally for Lilly’s successor, Lorden said in a statement. She expects to screen candidates in the fall and winter, interview them on campus by early spring, and appoint a new dean by July 2008.

In the meantime, Ott says he wants to continue to develop the school’s business programs.

“I don’t want to be just a caretaker,” Ott said in a phone interview Friday from San Antonio, where he was celebrating his mother’s 80th birthday at Sea World. “I think the business school is very important in the city of Charlotte, which is a business city. Because we have a lot of competition in the MBA program, I’d like to continue to keep that strong and do a little bit of restructuring.”

Ott has developed and operates a real estate finance and development concentration at the MBA level at UNCC. Ott’s research focuses on real estate valuation, real estate public policy issues, and real estate development finance and investment.

Ott earned his undergraduate degree in business administration from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and both his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ott came to UNCC from the University of Kentucky, where he was director of the Center for Real Estate Studies, according to the Belk College of Business Web site.

Ott normally teaches three classes, which he won’t be able to teach this year. The courses will be taught by other faculty members, he said. He’ll also have help running the Center for Real Estate, which has continuing education, research and other services. It also oversees the MBA program in real estate.

Associate Director Dustin Read and Richard Buttimer will help Ott with his duties at the center.

Ott said he hasn’t decided whether he’ll apply to be the permanent replacement for Lilly, but he’s considering it.

“I really enjoy being a faculty member,” he said. “I’m not ruling it in or out at this point. But there will be a national search.”

information from : www.charlotte.com

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