People and Places: February 8, 2022

Transitions

Naomi E. Boyd has been named dean of the School of Business at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, effective July 1. Boyd currently serves as associate dean for innovation, outreach, and engagement and as chair, professor, and the Fred T. Tattersall Chair of Finance at the John Chambers College of Business and Economics at West Virginia University in Monongalia County. At West Virginia University, she developed the Center for Financial Literacy and Education and created a student-managed investment fund. Boyd is the associate editor of Financial Statistics, as well as a member of the review board of the American Journal of Business and the editorial advisory boards of the Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance and Managerial Finance. S. Douglas Pugh, who has been interim dean since July 2021, will continue to hold that post until Boyd arrives.

Jonathon Halbesleben has been named dean of the Carlos Alvarez College of Business, Bodenstedt Chair, and Tom C. Frost Distinguished University Chair for Business Excellence at the University of Texas in San Antonio. He begins his duties June 1. Halbesleben currently serves as dean of the College of Continuing Studies at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. He has held previous positions at the University of Alabama, the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, and the University of Missouri. Halbesleben replaces interim dean Pamela Smith.

Krist Swimberghe has been appointed the new dean of the Soules College of Business at the University of Texas at Tyler. Swimberghe has been serving as interim dean since May 2020. A member of the UT Tyler faculty since 2010, he was appointed chair of the department of management and marketing in 2014. Prior to his career in academia, Swimberghe worked in industry for almost 20 years, predominantly in international marketing and sales for the defense and automotive industries in both Europe and the United States.

BI Norwegian Business School, which has four campuses in Norway, has appointed Karen Spens to be its next president and the first woman to serve in that role. Spens will start her four-year term on August 1, when her predecessor, Inge Jan Henjesand, will complete his second and final term as president. She is currently rector of Hanken School of Economics at the University of Helsinki in Finland. She also serves as a member of AACSB’s Board of Directors.

After serving for 12 years as dean of the Woodbury School of Business at Utah Valley University in Orem, Norman Wright will be joining the Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine to become president and chief executive officer. Under Wright’s leadership, the Woodbury School of Business added multiple graduate degree programs, opened the new Keller Building, and became the largest business school in the state of Utah, with more than 5,000 students. Prior to joining the Woodbury School of Business, Wright taught and served as an administrator at universities in Hawaii, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, and Nigeria. He has served as editor of the Journal of Microfinance and has run his own entrepreneurial ventures in Hawaii.

In June, John Delaney will step down after six years as dean of American University’s Kogod School of Business in Washington, D.C. During his tenure, he grew minority faculty representation from 23 percent to 34 percent, increased the proportion of women faculty, and established the school’s first assistant dean for diversity and inclusion. Since 2017, faculty grants and premier journal publications have both grown by 300 percent. Delaney also struck an exclusive partnership with WeWork and created a program for pro bono student projects and co-ops. He has implemented a student satisfaction measurement program to guide and manage the school’s support for students.

Honors and Awards

Ten business schools took home honors in the 2022 AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards sponsored by the Association of MBAs and the Business Graduates Association. They included NEOMA Business School in France, IE Business School in Spain, the International Business School Suzhou at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in China, the International Management Institute in the Ukraine, Centrum PUCP Business School at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, EGADE Business School at Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico, the Athens University of Economics and Business in Greece, Escuela de Postgrados en Negocios at Universidad ORT Uruguay, Manchester Metropolitan University Business School in the U.K., and Aston Business School in the U.K.

New Programs

The Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, will offer a new online certificate in ethical leadership. A team of Mendoza faculty experts will work with instructional design firm iDesign to develop the six courses that will help participants learn how ethical decision-making applies to complex business challenges. The courses will be created by subject matter experts from the Mendoza College of Business and the Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership. The certificate program will be offered asynchronously through Coursera.

Grants and Donations

Columbia Business School in New York City has announced the establishment of a scholarship fund made possible by a 10 million USD gift from alumnus Robert F. Smith. Partial and full-tuition scholarships will be available for students who are graduating from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs); come from diverse backgrounds and have overcome significant challenges in their academic pursuits; or have demonstrated a strong commitment to the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Over the next ten years, the gift is expected to help Columbia Business School attract and support approximately 200 students from HBCUs and diverse backgrounds. Smith previously donated 15 million USD to help Columbia Business School expand to its new campus.

The Idaho State University College of Business in Pocatello has received a gift from the Michael C. Ruettgers Endowment that will result in the construction of the new Walter P. Brown Center for Sales Excellence. The space, which will be completed this fall, will provide students and sales professionals an area to develop their sales skills and train for individual and team sales presentations. The center also will serve as a base for the college’s new sales program, which includes the three-course Professional Selling Certificate that is open to all students on campus. Ruettgers, the retired chairman of information management company EMC, also recently established a professorship in marketing at the school.

Other News

In January, the first researchers moved into the multidisciplinary Advanced Research Centre (ARC) at the University of Glasgow. The ARC is designed to bring together researchers in an environment that encourages collaboration and cross-pollination of ideas and fosters innovation with external and industry partners. Over the next few months, more than 500 scholars, technicians, and professional staff will move into the new space, which is 16,000 square meters (almost 52,500 square feet) in size. Academics at the ARC will address five broad themes: creative economies and cultural transformation, digital chemistry, international development, quantum nanotechnology, and technologies touching life. The building will also house The Enterprise Zone, where dedicated advisors will be available to help up to 30 student-run startup companies develop their ideas and build an entrepreneurial community.

The Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, is launching the Undergraduate Research Assistant program, in which undergraduate students are paid to assist professors in their scholarship efforts. Faculty who engage student assistants will have more time to work on their research, while students who assist faculty will sharpen their communication skills and learn about research methodologies, data collection techniques, and analytical software options. According to Emily Hunter, chair of the department of management, “Undergraduate students are a key part of our aspirations to achieve Tier 1 status as a newly-classified R1 university.”

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