People and Places: July 11, 2023

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Tuesday, July 11, 2023
By AACSB Staff
A new institute at the University of Sussex tackles climate change and other social issues; five schools announce changes in leadership.

Transitions

Oliver Yao has been appointed dean of the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics at the University of Delaware (UD) in Newark, Delaware. Yao arrives at UD following 20 years at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he held numerous faculty and administrative appointments. He was the George N. Beckwith ’32 Professor in the Lehigh College of Business and has been its interim deputy provost for graduate education since February 2020. Simultaneously, beginning in July 2018, Yao served as the College of Business associate dean for graduate programs. He also spent three years chairing the department of management. Sheryl Kline, deputy dean of the Lerner College, will serve as acting dean until Yao begins his term on August 1.

Lerong He has been selected as the next dean of the School of Business at the State University of New York Geneseo, where she took up her new post on July 6. She previously spent 15 years at SUNY Brockport, serving as a professor of management, chair of the department of business administration, and associate dean. At Brockport, He oversaw the creation of an online degree completion program in business administration, the launch of the MBA program, the design of an accelerated 4+1 MBA pathway program, and the introduction of concentrations in business analytics and human resource management. She also led a successful AACSB reaccreditation effort. Prior to her time at SUNY Brockport, He held faculty positions at Niagara University, West Chester University, and the University of Rochester, all in the U.S.; Fuzhou University in China; and the National Chung Hsing University in Taiwan.

On August 1, James Payne will become the next dean of the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. Payne has served as dean of the Woody L. Hunt College of Business at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) since May 2019. Payne helped secure the largest single gift in UTEP’s history, a 25 million USD naming gift. He also oversaw the restructuring of the PhD, MBA, and master’s in economics programs; the redesign of the undergraduate business core curriculum; and the launch of several online programs. He has led successful AACSB reaccreditation efforts at two business schools and is an active member of a number of AACSB peer review teams.

On November 1, Bertie Greer will join the University of Massachusetts Lowell as Rist Family Dean of the Manning School of Business. Greer currently serves as associate dean of the Mike Ilitch School of Business at Wayne State University in Michigan. Prior to joining Wayne State in 2016, Greer spent 15 years as a faculty member, and ultimately chair, of the department of management at Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights. She previously had spent time at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, the University of Detroit-Mercy, the University of Dayton in Ohio, and Oakland University in Michigan. She also has held engineering roles at Ford Motor Company, Chrysler/Jeep-Eagle, and Timken Roller Bearing. Greer succeeds Sandra Richtermeyer, who will become provost at Rutgers University-Camden this summer. Steven Tello, vice provost for graduate and professional studies and a faculty member of the Manning School, will serve as interim dean until Greer’s arrival. (Photo by Harry Bosk)

Anuj Mehrotra has been selected to be the Stephen P. Zelnak Jr. Dean’s Chair of Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business in Atlanta. Since 2018, Mehrotra has been dean of the George Washington University School of Business (GWSB) in Washington, D.C., where he is also a professor of decision sciences. Under his leadership, GWSB has introduced industry-driven certificates that allow students to create customizable master’s degrees; expanded the portfolio of online offerings; and converted all undergraduate business degrees to BS degrees featuring new majors in business analytics, entrepreneurship, information systems, international business, and marketing. Previously, Mehrotra held various leadership positions at the University of Miami School of Business Administration. He begins his new role at Georgia State on January 1, 2024.

Until Anuj Mehrotra’s arrival at the Scheller College of Business, Jonathan Clarke will serve as interim dean. He assumed the position on July 1, following the departure of Maryam Alavi. Since 2020, Clarke has served as the senior associate dean of programs at the Scheller College. Clarke, whose work has been published in a wide range of financial journals, won the 2001 William F. Sharpe award for best published paper in the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis.

New Programs

The C.T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston has launched the Healthcare Business Institute (HBI) to bring together researchers, hospital system administrators, device-makers, supply chain managers, and other members of the healthcare ecosystem. HBI will create a practitioner-facing knowledge portal featuring a journal and multimedia content that will present the community with research conducted by the institute and other sources. This will enable members of the healthcare community to follow trends such as the availability of large data sets, advances in tracking and transmission technologies, advances in artificial intelligence, and changes in policy regulations and customer preferences. HBI is led by Ravi Aron, research director and professor of healthcare strategy and technology in the Bauer College department of decision and information sciences, and Edward Kroger, the administrative director of the center.


Collaborations

emlyon business school has launched several new collaborations that will enable its students to take classes around the world. A double-degree program in corporate finance will be delivered in conjunction with Bayes Business School at City, University of London. A second double-degree program combines business studies with the Master in Diplomacy, Law and Business offered by the Jindal School of International Affairs at the O.P. Jindal Global University in Delhi. emlyon also has signed new exchange agreements for students in its Grande Ecole Program and its Global Bachelor of Business Administration. These will provide students with additional study options at 17 different locations in Europe, the U.S., Canada, Argentina, India, Africa, and Oceania.


ESMT Berlin and the BMW Group are partnering to offer 10 full-tuition scholarships for the September 2023 intake of the ESMT Global Online MBA. The BMW Group Change Maker Fellowship is designed to develop tech-savvy future leaders by complementing a STEM degree with business education. This year’s focus will be on students in Hungary, where the BMW group has a production plant in Debrecen.


Grants and Donations

The University of Sussex Business School in the U.K. has received a major donation from the Peter Bennett Foundation, a philanthropic organization, to establish the Bennett Institute for Innovation and Policy Acceleration. The institute, which is expected to open later this year, will tackle some of society’s greatest challenges, beginning with climate change. Its first three goals will be to try to change local and global behavior in relation to climate change; focus on net-zero industry policies in production and manufacturing processes; and accelerate policies that promote energy and climate justice. In the future, the institute also will address issues such as health, security, immigration, and trade. Initially the institute will have three professorships: a director and named chair, a professor of sustainable finance, and a professor of innovation and energy policy.


Other News

Emory University’s Goizueta Business School in Atlanta has announced its new Master in Business for Veterans, an 11-month program designed for active-duty military, veterans, National Guard, and Reserve personnel. To cover the full cost of tuition, eligible students can combine G.I. Bill benefits with funding from the Yellow Ribbon Program, which helps vets pay fees for out-of-state, private, or foreign schools. Students take courses on campus every other weekend, enabling them to continue working as they pursue their degrees. As part of their career development, they also will receive one-on-one coaching and will be paired with military veterans who have careers in business. Additionally, students will participate in Goizueta IMPACT for Veterans, which takes students into real-world business scenarios to address strategic issues and problems within a variety of organizations, including Fortune 100 companies, nonprofits, and startups. Applications for the new program open in August.


If you have news of interest to share with the business education community, please send press releases, relevant images, or other information to AACSB Insights at [email protected].

Authors
AACSB Staff
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