Dean Headley, PhD

Dr. Dean Headley is an Emeritus Professor in the W. Frank Barton School of Business, at Wichita State University.  He received his Ph.D. from Oklahoma State University in services marketing and statistics (1989).  Dean is a native of Kansas, receiving his undergraduate business degree from Emporia State University (1970). He also has a Master of Public Health (MPH) from the University of Oklahoma (1974) and an MBA from Wichita State University (1982). 
Before returning for his initial graduate work, Dean worked in the area of consumer credit with Phillips Petroleum Company in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.  After receiving his initial graduate degree in 1974, he worked as an HMO developer in Oklahoma, Health Systems Agency Planning Director in Wichita, and medical school Outreach Director and physician recruiter for K.U. School of Medicine in Wichita.  Prior to returning to academia to earn his doctorate, Dean taught in and chaired the Department of Business at Newman University in Wichita (1982 to 1985).  In 1987 he taught in the College of Health Professions at WSU and in 1988 he joined the Barton School faculty. Until his retirement in May 2018, Dean was a fulltime faculty in the Barton School at Wichita State serving for 30 years.  Dr. Headley taught courses in marketing research and services marketing at WSU.
You may have seen or read about Dr. Headley over the years talking about airlines.  In 1991 he published the Airline Quality Rating. His research on airline quality over the past 29 years has garnered national and international attention for the University via appearances on Good Morning America, the TODAY Show, ABC 20/20, CNN and Fox network news, local television news, articles in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today, Business Week, Forbes, Reader’s Digest, the Wichita Eagle, Wichita Business Journal, as well as other major electronic and print news outlets.  His work with quality measurement is recognized by both academics and the business community as a benchmark in the measurement of service quality for the commercial airline industry.