A former faculty member and administrator at Emory and Rutgers universities has been named dean of Mercer University’s business school, the university announced Wednesday.

Susan Perles Gilbert will take over leadership of the Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics on April 1. Gilbert also was an executive with AT&T in New Jersey and most recently served as dean of the School of Business and Technology at Thomas Edison State University in Trenton, N.J., according to a news release.

She will be the first female dean of the business school, according to university spokesman Mark Vanderhoek.

“I am honored to be joining the distinguished faculty and administration of Mercer University and delighted to be returning to my adopted home state of Georgia,” Gilbert said in the news release.

Gilbert will take over the position for interim Dean Scott Davis, who also is the university provost. Davis has been interim dean since 2010 when former Dean David Shields resigned, Vanderhoek said.

A committee of professors and business executives unanimously chose Gilbert to lead the 1,000-student business school, according to the news release.