Ronald Watters Photograph of Ronald E. Watters available upon request.

Ronald E. Watters has been named Program Director of the E-Commerce Summer Camp and the Richard H. Austin Fund at the Wayne State University School of Business Administration.

Established in 2001, the E-Commerce Summer Camp is convened annually by the School of Business Administration for high school students from Detroit and Inkster. The 10-week program introduces urban high school students, who initially may not be considering college, to information technology, business, and higher education. In addition to specially designed, hands-on classes and lectures at Wayne State University, each student participates in a paid internship at a local company or organization.

Over the last six years, 85 percent of the 202 camp graduates have enrolled at universities. E-Commerce Summer Camp graduates who apply to Wayne State University School of Business Administration have the opportunity to receive scholarships from the National City Bank and the Shaffner Family Trust.

The Richard H. Austin Fund supports the Richard H. Austin Career Academy. The Academy’s goals are to recruit more Detroit students into the accounting field, provide scholarships, and offer mentoring and tutoring support. Austin was Michigan’s longest-serving Secretary of State as well as Michigan’s first African-American certified public accountant and first African-American Secretary of State.

School of Business Administration accounting students have the opportunity to receive scholarships from the Richard H. Austin Accounting Endowed Scholarship fund, which is supported by the Austin family and numerous other donors.

Prior to joining the business school in his dual roles, Watters was president of The GPW Group, a warehouse, storage, and logistic management and vending services company from 2001-2005. In September 2000, he retired from the DaimlerChrysler Corporation after 34 years of service.

Watters earned a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial management from Central Michigan University. Active in the community, he is married to Commissioner Linda Watters of the Office of Financial and Insurance Services for the State of Michigan. The Watters reside in Dearborn and have two adult sons and two grandchildren.

For more information about the Wayne State University School of Business Administration, visit http://www.busadm.wayne.edu/.

Wayne State University is the 29th largest university in the United States and is a premier institution of higher education offering more than 350 academic programs through 11 schools and colleges to more than 33,000 students.