Eric R. Spangenberg is the current dean of The Paul Merage School of Business at UC Irvine effective June 1, 2014. Professor Spangenberg received his PhD from the University of Washington in 1990, and then joined the faculty at the Carson College of Business at Washington State University (WSU). He was promoted to associate professor in 1997 and named the Maughmer Freedom Philosophy Chair and Professor of Marketing at WSU in 2003. Spangenberg served as associate dean for Faculty Affairs and Research from 2002 to 2005 and then as dean of the Carson College of Business at Washington State University from 2005 to 2014.

His key accomplishments include establishing entrepreneurial initiatives at WSU now generating multimillion-dollar revenue streams. In addition, Spangenberg oversaw historic increases in MBA and PhD enrollments while strategically revising curricula. He led a team in developing and launching online MBA programs that were ranked No. 1 in 2013 by U.S. News & World Report, and online undergraduate degree programs grew by more than 50 percent during his tenure. Additionally, the Carson College’s international business programs were consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report in the top 25 during Spangenberg’s deanship.

He is a recognized international scholar and committed fundraiser who served in leadership positions on faculty senate and faculty affairs committees before entering administration and is an active volunteer for the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, the largest and most prestigious international accrediting body for business schools.

Renowned for his work on the effects of olfactory and musical cues in the retail environment and the effects of self-prediction on people’s behavior, his research has been published in the field’s top journals. His work has been covered in The Economist, Fast Company, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, and on the BBC, CBS, Yahoo News, Salon and Boing, as well as numerous other international print, television and online media outlets. He has also been consulted by similar outlets as an expert in online education.

He has authored and co-authored more than 40 journal articles, book chapters and other published material focusing on his key research areas, which include marketing and consumer psychology topics such as: question-behavior effects, psychometrics, consumer skepticism toward advertising, environmental psychology and brand extended self-construal. He also is on the editorial review board for the Journal of Consumer Psychology and maintains professional affiliations with the Association for Consumer Research, the American Psychological Association and the Society for Consumer Psychology.