People and Places: February 2024
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 On July 1, Raghu Sundaram will step down as the Richard R. West Dean of the New York University Stern School of Business to become the university’s senior vice chancellor and head of global strategy. Sundaram became dean of the school in 2018, after serving for two years as vice dean for MBA programs and online learning. As dean, he oversaw the launch of new degree programs, the expansion of Stern’s global footprint, the school’s entry into online education, and the creation of its first office of diversity and inclusion. Prior to joining NYU Stern in 1996, Sundaram was on the faculty of the University of Rochester. When he takes up his new position, the role of interim dean will be filled by J.P. Eggers, Stern’s vice dean for MBA and graduate programs. |
 Shu Schiller has been selected as the new dean of the College of Business Administration at the University of Missouri–St. Louis (UMSL). She is currently interim dean of the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. She also is a professor of information systems in Wright State’s Raj Soin College of Business, where she previously spent nearly four years as associate dean. In the latter role, she collaborated with the dean’s student advisory board to create a student mentoring program for first-year students and managed the college’s degree completion program. Until she joins UMSL on April 1, the role of interim dean will be held by Michael Elliot, an associate professor of marketing. |
 At the end of the academic year, McRae C. Banks will retire as dean of the Bryan School of Business and Economics and the Margaret and Harrell Hill Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategy at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro. Since Banks began his deanship in 2011, the school has seen an enrollment growth of almost 50 percent; launched the Bryan Blueprint undergraduate curriculum; and created 12 new online degree programs, including a PhD program. Banks was elected to two three-year terms on the AACSB International Board of Directors and served as chair of the board in 2022–23. The role of interim dean will be filled by Joy Bhadury, a professor of supply chain management. |
 At the beginning of the 2024–25 academic year, Sergei Guriev will become the next dean and a professor of economics at the London Business School (LBS). Guriev previously headed the New Economics School in Moscow and served as the chief economist at the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development. He replaces François Ortalo-Magné, dean since 2017, who is transitioning to a new role as a professor of management practice in the LBS faculty and executive dean for external relations. |
 Alina Chircu has been named the new dean of the Anderson School of Management at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Chircu currently serves as a professor in the Computer Information Systems department at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts. There she has held several leadership roles, including interim dean of business, senior associate dean of business for graduate programs, and chair of the information and process management department. She takes up her new role on April 8. |
 Julian Birkinshaw has been named the next dean of Ivey Business School at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. Birkinshaw spent 25 years at the London Business School, where he has held a variety of posts, including vice dean. At LBS, he steered the creation of the early-career Masters in Management in 2010 and the Masters in Analytics Management in 2019. He also led the school’s digital development from 2017 to 2020. His five-year appointment at Ivey is effective August 1. Birkinshaw replaces Sharon Hodgson, who was dean for five years and is now retiring. Hodgson oversaw the launch of new programs, the creation of a comprehensive diversity strategy, and the implementation of programs that target equity-deserving groups. |
 On July 1, David Green becomes dean of the School of Business and Entrepreneurship at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. He currently is a professor of management information systems and the division chair of accounting, finance, management information systems, and economics at Governors State University (GSU) in University Park, Illinois. During his 16 years at GSU, Green participated in the College of Business’s AACSB accreditation, strategic planning initiatives, and assurance of learning efforts, and he led the school’s development of a master’s degree program in business analytics. Previously, Green was an assistant professor of computer information systems at Morehead State University in Kentucky, as well as a data analysis consultant. |
 Michelle Roehm has been selected as the next Kenneth W. Freeman Professor and dean of the Freeman College of Management at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Roehm is currently the Peter C. Brockway Chair in Strategic Management at Wake Forest University’s School of Business in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She previously served as interim dean and vice dean at Wake Forest. In 2021, she was named one of the world’s top academic professionals in the field of data and analytics, according to Chief Data Officer magazine. Roehm will take up her post at Bucknell on July 1. (Photo by Ken Bennett)
New ProgramsThis fall, the Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. School of Business at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, is launching a new Master of Business and Technology degree. In the 12-month, 36-credit program, students can choose from four elective concentrations in robotics and automation, artificial intelligence innovations, technology commercialization, and computational finance. Core courses include offerings in digital product design, technology governance and regulations, computational business intelligence, and economic analysis of technology markets. The School of Management at the University of Bradford in the U.K. is launching an MSc Entrepreneurship in Practice focused on the challenges of building a sustainable business. Through an Enterprise Simulation Lab, students can practice entrepreneurial skills in a safe environment. The program, which covers both for-profit and socially oriented businesses, helps students seek careers in fields related to digitalization, artificial intelligence, and sustainability. The University of Chicago Booth School of Business has debuted its Global Advanced Finance Program, a certificate program aimed at corporate finance executives and senior investment professionals. Participants can attend classes in Chicago, London, or Hong Kong as they complete six elective sessions over two years. They also have the option to take several new electives taught by Booth’s finance faculty. Simon Business School at the University of Rochester in New York has announced an Online Master’s of Science in Business Analytics and Applied AI. The 14-month cohort-based program, which begins in August, is tailored for working professionals and is offered in a flexible online format that blends synchronous and asynchronous coursework. Courses cover AI and business, analytics-driven decisions, marketing analytics, and Python programming. Program candidates are eligible to participate in Simon Games, a virtual business simulation competition, where they have the chance to win scholarship awards. Rabat Business School in Morocco, HEC Montreal, and IÉSEG School of Management in France are teaming up to launch a triple bachelor’s degree focused on international business. During the program, which begins in September, students will spend their first year of study at Rabat, the next year at IÉSEG’s campus in Paris, and the final two years at HEC Montreal. Students will follow a general curriculum during the first three years, before specializing in the final year. They also will participate in a mandatory internship. The program will be open to students of all nationalities who are bilingual in French and English. Students will earn a Bachelor of International Program Management from Rabat, a Bachelor in International Business from IÉSEG, and a Bachelor of Business Administration from HEC Montreal. Centers and FacilitiesThe University of South Florida in Tampa has established the Behavioral AI Lab to allow students and faculty to explore the implications of artificial intelligence in business. The new lab is equipped with biometric sensors that can study human responses to AI by tracking a subject’s tone of voice, word choice, eye movements, facial expressions, stress responses, and brain activity. The lab includes 20 computer stations and five interaction rooms where researchers can control ambient light and sound. Vlerick Business School in Brussels, Belgium, has launched a Sustainability Research Centre aimed at creating research that empowers business to achieve a positive impact. Research efforts will cover the full range of environmental, social, and governance topics and bring together faculty from multiple disciplines. The center has been created in partnership with insurance company Ageas; it also is developing relationships with other business partners that are committed to sustainability. ESMT Berlin is launching the ESMT Institute for Sustainable Transformation to bring together all of the school’s sustainability activities in the areas of research, teaching, and outreach. The institute’s lead researchers will include Jörg Rocholl, president of ESMT and the Deutsche Bank Professor in Sustainable Finance; and Per Olsson, dean of faculty and research and the DHL Group Professor in Sustainable Accounting. The institute will offer additional chaired professorships and establish a research fund for schoolwide sustainability projects. The institute also plans to collaborate with universities and businesses worldwide on action-oriented and research-based sustainability projects. CollaborationsThe AMENA Center for Entrepreneurship and Development in Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa at the University of California Berkeley has joined forces with entrepreneurship training firm World Innovations Network (WIN). Together they will launch an international Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Program focusing on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In the immersive and interdisciplinary learning environment, students will receive hands-on training from professors and scientists from AMENA and industry experts from Silicon Valley. The goal is to create innovators and leaders with the skills to achieve the SDGs. IESE Business School in Barcelona and Equatorial Coca-Cola Bottling Company (ECCBC) recently signed a Collaboration Agreement aimed at facilitating executive training and talent development on the African continent. Each year, the company will give out two Equatorial Coca-Cola Grants to students in ESSEC’s MBA program and two grants to students in the school’s Master in Management program. Once grant recipients have graduated and completed a period of work experience with the company, they will begin a rotational program at Coca-Cola locations. The program is part of IESE’s Africa Initiative, which promotes sustainable business leadership on the continent. The School of Wine and Spirits at the Burgundy School of Business (BSB) in France has teamed up with Deloitte Winery Solutions and Services to offer a portfolio of services to companies in the wine sector. Students in two BSB programs—an MBA in wine and spirits and a specialized master’s in the wine and spirits trade—can receive personalized support from Deloitte if they need assistance for entrepreneurial ventures such as setting up a winery. Senior members of Deloitte’s Winery Solutions and Services staff also will take part in a course dedicated to entrepreneurship. In addition, the alliance will result in a series of conferences open to students, alumni, and others associated with the School of Wine and Spirits. Other NewsThe Frankfurt School of Finance and Management gGmbH has acquired Futury GmbH and its subsidiary, the Future Institute for Sustainable Transformation. Futury is a platform on which startups and established companies collaborate on entrepreneurship, innovation, and sustainability. It specializes in the four areas of construction, waste, food, and cybersecurity, and it has a network of more than 100 corporate partners. With the acquisition, the Frankfurt School expects to expand teaching and research activities that focus on sustainability and innovation. Porto Business School in Portugal has announced a new 120,000 USD scholarship program designed to encourage a diverse group of South African candidates to pursue MBA studies abroad. The scholarship is open to young professionals, executive women, MBA candidates with high GMAT scores, and the 450,000 Portuguese and Portuguese descendants living in South Africa. To further promote Porto Business School’s presence in South Africa, dean José Esteves is meeting with influential academic institutions and government authorities in South Africa; he also taught a master class on Transformational Leadership for Aspiring Business Leaders at Toutele Agriculture College in Durban. 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]. |
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