A Legacy of International Partnerships

He is the 15^th faculty member who joined the business school, and since has held numerous positions—assistant to full professor, chair of the marketing department, associate dean and director of the MBA, Executive MBA, and Master of Accountancy programs, associate dean, visiting faculty member at the University of Bath and Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Rouen, board member of the Virginia Heart Organization, mentor, colleague, international partner, and more.

Over his 49 years at the University of Richmond, Tom Cossé has made a long and lasting impact. “When I first came to campus, Westhampton Lake was just a big hole in the ground,” he remembered. Cossé recently announced his retirement at the end of the year, having served as associate dean and director of international business programs since 2000. The position has taken him around the globe, flying over a hundred thousand miles yearly to represent the Robins School on the international stage. But he wasn’t always a seasoned traveler.

After graduating high school, Cossé dropped out of university to join the army and was stationed in Vietnam. “I turned 21 in the Central Highlands of Vietnam,” Cossé said. “I had a week of R&R and traveled to Kuala Lumpur. That’s when I really got the travel bug.” 

Upon returning home, he got married and completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, then received a master’s degree and Ph.D. at the University of Arkansas. In 1975, he joined the Richmond faculty as an assistant marketing professor under W. David Robbins, the first dean of the business school.

“In many ways, the campus was fairly primitive when I arrived,” Cossé said. “The student commons was no more than a snack bar. We used a punch card reader in Millhiser Gym's basement—there was no academic computing system on campus – tied to the UVA computing system. Because it was underground, there was a lot of moisture, and your cards would get damp and had to be reproduced, and the card reader would stop working, so you took a panel off the machine and gave it a good kick to get it working again.” 

He reflected on the progress made in the last four decades, including attracting students from outside Virginia and increasing business school acceptance rates to allow access for more students. “We had to cap enrollment, so it was very competitive,” he said. “There was a bit of rivalry, but students and faculty were very close, much like now.” 

Cossé was made director of the MBA and the enrollment in the graduate program peaked at around 300 students during his tenure and included a full-time and part-time graduate program and a Master of Accountancy. He spent eight years in the position before returning to the faculty to focus on his research. “I have always enjoyed pursuing research with a social bent,” he said. Much of his work explores organ transplants and the organ allocation process. For several years, students in his marketing research course would conduct an annual state-wide survey for the Virginia Heart Organization.

Cossé became the associate dean and director of international business programs in 2000 under Dean Karen Newman, who he credits with enabling and supporting international efforts. “For a long time, we defined ‘international’ as getting UR students to study abroad. It significantly evolved into managing the international concentration, establishing exchange programs, and traveling. A lot of traveling,” Cossé said.

Cossé built relationships with partner institutions, which today include over 53 international colleges and universities where Richmond students have a choice to study abroad and from which exchange students and visiting scholars come to campus. “You must go and be seen to meet people and make connections, join committees, be active in industry organizations,” Cossé said. He has done just that—under his leadership, the school has become a member of several leading international organizations that drive excellence and facilitate best practices for international business education. “The business school has friends in many places.”

“I always kept my finger on the pulse of where students were interested in studying and where we should be,” he said. This work also included graduate students, as Cossé developed the International Residency, a program pillar in which MBA students travel abroad to work on a consulting engagement.

Cossé has traveled to over 40 countries during his tenure, but when asked about his favorite destination, he said, “Whatever one I’m currently in.” There is a story for each—France is a special place for Cossé as it is part of his heritage, Italy has wonderful food, the people in Vietnam are diverse and fascinating, and Brazil is like several countries in one. “It’s always best to get off the beaten path wherever you are,” he said. “That’s what I always tell students. Have fun, explore. The best experiences I’ve had are when I get a little lost. If you need help, look a little lost, put a smile on your face, and someone will come along. That’s worked well for me.” 

Cossé hasn’t taken a sabbatical or spring break in 20 years, and as retirement approaches, knows there are other things to look forward to—seeing family, pursuing his interests in automobiles, relaxing, and, of course, traveling. With trips to Africa, Egypt, and Turkey in mind, he will return to the sky soon.