Doug Cerf, area chair for accounting and business law at the Orfalea College of Business, will serve as interim dean starting July 1.

Cerf has been area chair for accounting and business law since 2007, and a Cal Poly faculty member since 1990. The announcement was made in a news release from Cal Poly.

Cerf’s appointment gives Cal Poly additional time to conduct a national search for outgoing Dean Dave Christy, who has been appointed provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Baruch College in New York City.

Cal Poly also said that Rosemary Wild, area chair for management at the Orfalea College, will serve as interim associate dean starting July 23. She will help with additional support while Bradford Anderson, associate dean, will remain interim vice president for research and economic development at the university.

Wild has been area chair for management since 2006, and at Cal Poly since 1999.

“Doug and Rosemary have had long and distinguished careers within the Orfalea College of Business,” Kathleen Enz Finken, provost at Cal Poly, said in the release. “They possess strong leadership skills and are well-respected by their peers. I look forward to working with them in their new roles.”

Cal Poly has said it will conduct a national search for the new permanent dean of the college. The Orfalea College of Business is named for Kinko’s founder Paul Orfalea, a major donor to the university.