A man with roots from Texas to Mexico and back again, Alberto Dávila will soon be planting Missouri roots when he joins Southeast as the new dean of the Donald L. Harrison College of Business in June.

It was while on a trip to Nashville, Tennessee, that Dávila and his wife realized how nice the Midwest was.

“When I came to Southeast [for the first time] whatever expectations I had about how much I would like it completely exceeded my expectations,” he said.

Dávila said the campus was beautiful and noted how welcoming everyone was in the College of Business.

A first-generation college student who attended University of Texas-Pan American, now the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), Dávila earned a bachelor’s in economics.

“It was instilled in me at a very early age that going to college was important,” he said.

He continued to pursue his education at Iowa State University, eventually earning his PhD.

After college he moved back to Texas, where he began working at the Federal Reserve Bank in Austin.

He soon started working at the University of Texas-Pan American, where he stayed for 18 years. It wasn’t until about four years ago that University of Texas-Pan American merged with the University of Texas at Brownsville.

“Over the last three, four years we went through the merge and reaccreditation,” he said.

In light of that, Dávila said the restructuring at Southeast is something he’s not afraid to tackle. In fact, he said the structure of his current department in Texas is similar to what has been proposed for the Southeast College of Business.

At the top of his priority list is ensuring the maintenance of departmental accreditation.

He said he hopes students will not be affected by the restructuring.

His plan for the department is simple.

“My vision is pretty straightforward and that is to recruit and retain with high-quality instructional messages,” he said.

He hopes to work with students to ensure they graduate on time and find success in their careers.

“That’s my vision, it’s one of student success,” he said.

Dávila will begin his role as dean June 1, relieving Judy Wiles, who has served as interim dean for the past year.

When he’s not helping merge universities, Dávila said he enjoys watching college and professional football.

“I grew up loving football and to this day love football,” he said. “Now, that I am going to Southeast, I am kind of sad the Rams are no longer in St. Louis.”

Also a baseball fan, Dávila said he looks forward to attending Redhawk athletic events.