SALISBURY, MD – Dr. Christy Weer, dean of Salisbury University’s Franklin P. Perdue School of Business, has been named among Maryland’s Top 100 Women for 2021 by The Daily Record, a Baltimore-based business newspaper.
Weer earned her M.B.A. from SU in 1996. After working several years in the insurance industry and receiving her Ph.D. from Drexel University, she returned to SU as an assistant professor of management in 2009. She served three years as associate dean, starting in 2011, before becoming interim dean in 2014 and moving into her current position in 2015.
Under Weer’s leadership, the Perdue School’s entrepreneurship and sales programs have grown exponentially, positioning it as a regional leader in those areas.
In 2017, the Philip E. and Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation renewed its sponsorship of SU’s Ratcliffe Foundation Shore Hatchery competition for entrepreneurs in the Mid-Atlantic with a second $1 million gift. In recent years, other sponsorships have grown the prize pool for SU’s annual student Entrepreneurship Competitions up to $100,000. These initiatives combined allow the University to award some $300,000 in startup funding annually.
Also in 2017, the Perdue School launched its Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Hub to provide resources for potential student entrepreneurs across all of SU’s schools and colleges. Later that year, a $5.5 million gift from local entrepreneurs Dave and Patsy Rommel was announced to expand those efforts through SU’s Rommel Center for Entrepreneurship at SU Downtown in downtown Salisbury, scheduled to open next fall.
Weer oversaw another landmark moment in the Perdue School in 2015 with the reinvigoration of the University’s Mid-Atlantic Sales and Marketing Institute (MASMI) as a resource for students interested in sales careers. Since then, the number of sales faculty in the program has quadrupled, and SU has added a sales minor.
A member of the University Sales Center Alliance, MASMI has coached students to participate in multiple sales competitions. This year, the Perdue School began its own large-scale competition, the National Shore Sales Challenge, attracting students from 44 colleges and universities throughout the U.S. and beyond.
Through these and other initiatives, Weer’s focus is on student success. Many Perdue School alumni have gone on to work at some of the highest industry levels in business, accounting and other fields.
Weer also shares her business and management insights with the community as a member of the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce Council member and Wicomico County Tourism and Civic Center Commission, and a founding member of the Greater Salisbury Women’s Leadership Council.
In addition, she serves as secretary of the Salisbury-Wicomico Economic Development (SWED) board, is on the Business Program Advisory Board for Delaware Technical Community College and is a member of the Wicomico County American Cancer Society Volunteer Leadership Council.
Weer also is active in her profession, serving as chair-elect of the AACSB Women Administrators in Management Education (WAME) Steering Committee. She is a founding member of the professional organization Women in Business Education (WiBE).
She and other Top 100 Women honorees will be recognized during an online awards celebration Thursday, March 13. For tickets visit www.thedailyrecord.com/top-100-women.
For more information call 410-543-6030 or visit the SU website at www.salisbury.edu.
