Louis R. & Judith A. Desfosses Scholarship

This fund recognizes outstanding students in the SUNY Brockport School of Business and Management who demonstrates commitment and potential for excellence in a career focused on international business endeavors.

Dr. Louis R. Desfosses enjoyed an education and consulting career that spanned 10 institutions in the United States and abroad before joining the SUNY Brockport faculty in 1979. A 1960 graduate of Villanova (PA) University, he earned his master’s degree in business administration from Boston College, and his doctorate in business from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 1971. He began teaching in 1964 at Becker Junior College, where he earned Teacher of the Year honors. He then became an associate professor with the Kingston Business School at the University of Rhode Island and a professor of management at the Naval War College in Newport, RI. While there, he developed the college’s Handbook of Human Resources Management: Theory and Practice. Among his other positions, he served as the Alexander Hamilton Chair of Small Business Entrepreneurship in Budapest, Hungary, a role funded by the Fulbright Commission to assist several Hungarian universities and companies. Through his work for the United States Agency for International Development, he designed programs and curricula benefitting several universities in Mogadishu, Somalia; and Valencia, Spain.

At Brockport, he served as professor and chair of Business Administration and Economics, teaching organizational behavior, and strategic and small business management. He also served as president of the Brockport Chapter of the United University Professionals from 1991-1993 and the chapter’s vice-president for teaching from 1987-91, and from 1993-99. He co-chaired three quality of work-life committees, including one on understanding student diversity and two on assisting retrenched employees to gain a positive outlook on their situations. For another project, he undertook a business analysis of a proposed parking fee to arrive at a charge that was equitable for the College, and for faculty and staff.

Dr. Desfosses and his wife Judith were married for 39 years and had three children. After his passing in 1999, Judith Desfosses established the scholarship in his memory to honor their lifelong dedication to providing educational opportunities to students pursuing careers in international business. Mrs. Desfosses graduated from Our Lady of the Elms College (MA) with a bachelor’s degree in biology. She went on to earn a master’s degree in counseling from the University of Rhode Island and a second bachelor’s degree in dietetics from Buffalo State University, becoming a registered dietician. Her lifelong participation, support, and dedication to domestic and international pursuits resulted in the addition of her name to the scholarship when she passed away in 2017.

Eligible students must

1. Be enrolled in the School of Business and Management at SUNY Brockport at either the undergraduate or graduate level.
2. Demonstrate academic excellence as indicated by possessing a 3.5 or higher cumulative GPA.
3. Demonstrate a commitment to a career in business and to the principles of leadership and entrepreneurship as judged by the selection committee.

Undergraduate applicants must have completed a minimum of 15 credit hours at SUNY Brockport and be enrolled in the international business program or in classes focused on international business and actively participate in an international business related study abroad opportunity.
Graduate applicants must be enrolled in the Master of Business Administration and demonstrate financial need by way of self-funding their MBA program experience and not receiving support toward their education from their place of employment.

This scholarship will be credited to the recipient’s bill in the form of a non-tuition educational expense grant. It must be used for educational expenses and may not be received as cash.