Former Vice Dean for Online Learning, USC Marshall School of Business

As one of the frontrunners of online business education, Sandra Chrystal has shaped both the structure of leading business programs and the passionate, driven culture that differentiates top business schools.

Sandra serves as professor emeritus at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business. She is a strong proponent of online business education with a wealth of experience paving the way for more accessible higher education. Her experience in this regard demonstrates Sandra’s early recognition of the synergy between remote learning and remote work — a notion that is now rapidly readjusting the academic and professional worlds alike.

Prior to accepting a role at USC, Sandra developed one of the first online hybrid writing classes at the University of Notre Dame where she also created a digitally annotated text for a sophomore seminar. She then received a post-doctoral position at Georgia Tech and a tenure-track position at Clayton State University, a leader in student laptop initiatives, where she taught online and residential classes.

Sandra is recognized for innovative teaching and learning and was awarded grants for exactly this among other initiatives such as teaching with technology and online course design. Her extensive work in this regard is demonstrated not only by these awards, but by her positions of leadership and deanship with USC, including her roles as vice dean for Online Learning Programs and Centers of Research Excellence and as director at the Center for Management Communication. Sandra provided counsel to a number of academic resource groups including the Provost’s diversity council and community-based learning committees.

Sandra earned a master’s and a PhD from the University of Notre Dame. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in English from Miami University.

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