Michael Levens, Ph.D. President
Dr. Michael Levens has over three decades of professional experience, divided evenly between industry and higher education, as a college president, provost, academic chair, institute director, professor, corporate executive, business consultant, author and board member. Most recently, Dr. Levens served as President and CEO of Walsh College where he also held full-time faculty rank from 2006-2022. Joint appointments have included visiting Fulbright faculty at EKA University of Applied Science in Riga, Latvia, adjunct faculty at the College for Creative Studies (CCS) and post-doctoral program faculty at Tulane University. A Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Levens brings a unique combination of academic leadership, corporate business experience, and a global perspective to his work.
Prior to entering higher education, Dr. Levens held executive positions at General Motors (GM), working in product development, brand management, and research for brands including OnStar and Saab, among others. He also served as a methodologist and consultant at Gongos, Inc. He has worked in 35 countries on five continents and has conducted more than 100 research projects internationally. His research has been grant funded in the United States and European Union and is focused on affluent consumer behavior, advertising measurement, and non-traditional bundling strategies. He has presented his research at conferences hosted by the American Marketing Association, Advertising Research Foundation, Association of Marketing Theory and Practice, Atlantic Marketing Association, Automotive Market Research Council, and the Canadian Marketing Association.
Dr. Levens’ textbook, “Marketing: Defined, Explained, Applied,” is in its 3rd edition and has been used by more than 200 colleges and universities worldwide. Dr. Levens also provides service to industry and the academic community as a consultant to Fortune 1000 companies, pro-bono consultant to not-for-profit organizations, Fulbright peer reviewer, and member of the Scientific Committee of the annual conference “Emerging Trends in Economics, Culture and Humanities” held in Riga, Latvia.
Dr. Levens holds a post-doctoral diploma from Tulane University, a Ph.D. from Capella University, an MBA from Bond University in Australia, and a BS from Kettering University. He also completed the Harvard Seminar for New Presidents. Dr. Levens is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and has been appointed to seven different boards of directors.