Getting to know: Larisa Genin

Larisa Genin

Dean, W. Frank Barton School of Business, Wichita State University

Genin came to the United States as a 14-year-old unable to speak a word of English. Thirty years later, she’s nothing if not an eloquent champion of WSU’s business school.

“I never imagined that we would end up in Wichita, Kansas, but I would say it’s the best decision of my life,” said Genin, who started her new job as dean in June. “This was an amazing opportunity. I’m inspired by the (WSU) Innovation Campus and also by Wichita State’s focus on applied learning and research, and in general as I get to know the Barton School of Business, (I see) we have amazing faculty and staff. They’ve done remarkable things in the past. I’m excited about the future.”

Genin grew up in Kiev, Ukraine. “My mom’s aunt was living in San Francisco, and at some point they decided to connect and reunite,” she said.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in international business from the University of San Francisco, plus a MBA and doctorate of business administration from Golden State University. She taught at Santa Clara University and spent more than a decade at St. Mary’s College of California, where she was associate dean. She was an American Council on Education fellow in 2014-15.

Genin said her parents — Vlad, who has a doctorate in engineering, and Nella, who earned two masters degrees before her death — “have been an inspiration and role models for me in my journey.”

At WSU, she’s excited that the school plans to break ground next year on a new home for the business school, to be called Woolsey Hall and located on the Innovation Campus. “It’s a prime location,” she said. “Everything we do is going to revolve around innovation, impact and engagement.”

Genin and her husband, Edward, have a son, Michael, who’s in the ninth grade. She enjoys reading and traveling, naming Bali as one of the most exotic places she’s visited. She hasn’t been back to Ukraine but still speaks fluent Russian.