People and Places: July 2024
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 Ulster University in Coleraine, Ireland, has appointed Gillian Armstrong as the new pro vice chancellor and executive dean of Ulster University Business School (UUBS). She took the position on June 1 after more than two decades in various leadership positions at Ulster University. Armstrong, who currently is a professor at UUBS, previously was the associate dean for development and partnerships of the university, where she worked closely with teams in academia, industry, and government to ensure a responsive and innovative approach to emerging business needs and government strategy. In addition, she is a principal fellow of the Higher Education Academy and holds a visiting professorship at Hebei Geo University, China. |
 Corey Phelps has been named the new John and Karen Arnold Dean of Smeal College of Business at The Pennsylvania State University. Phelps comes to Penn State from the University of Oklahoma (OU), where he has held roles as dean, the Fred E. Brown Chair of Business, and a professor of entrepreneurship and strategy. During his tenure at OU, Phelps led a new strategic plan, increased student enrollment, created a First Year Experience Office, expanded faculty ranks, and developed 21 programs. He follows Charles Whiteman, who is retiring after 12 years of service in the role. |
 Charla Griffy-Brown has been named director general and dean of the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University (ASU). She took the position on July 1 after acting as interim dean and director general since May. Griffy-Brown, who joined ASU in 2023, was the school’s dean and professor of global digital transformation. Previously, she was a long-serving faculty member and administrator at Pepperdine University's Graziadio Business School. Her roles included senior associate dean, professor of information systems, academic director of the part-time MBA program, and director of the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence. |
 Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, has appointed Mary Frances Luce as interim dean of the Fuqua School of Business for a two-year term beginning August 1. Luce joined the Fuqua faculty in 2004 and currently serves as its Robert A. Ingram Professor of Business Administration. She is also a Fuqua alumna, having earned her PhD in business administration with a concentration in marketing from Duke in 1994. Before joining the faculty at her alma mater, Luce spent a decade on the faculty of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Luce succeeds Bill Boulding, who has served as dean since 2011 and will continue as the J.B. Fuqua Professor of Business Administration. |
 Shobha Das has been announced as the next dean of the Amrut Mody School of Management at Ahmedabad University. She comes to the university after serving as associate dean, professor, PhD committee chair, and strategy area chair at Krea University’s IFMR Graduate School of Business in Sricity, India. Das also has taught at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and at Qatar University. Das pioneered the use of simulation during her academic careers at all three universities.
New ProgramsThe Stephen J.R. Smith School of Business at Queen’s University and ESSEC Business School are celebrating the official signing of a double-degree agreement that will benefit undergraduate students at both institutions. Students in the Smith Bachelor of Commerce and ESSEC Global BBA programs will have the opportunity to take part in this new learning experience that will see them split their studies between Smith’s campus in Kingston, Canada, and ESSEC’s campus in Cergy, France. Each year, a select group of students from each school will complete the first two years of their four-year undergraduate degree at their home school, followed by their final two years of study at the affiliate school. Students starting in September 2025 will be the first to take advantage of the new offering, with the first exchange of students taking place during the 2025–26 school year. Participants will earn a degree from both business schools. Loughborough University, in Leicestershire, U.K., has partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Transportation and Logistics (MIT CTL) to be the first U.K. member of its Global Supply Chain and Logistics Excellence Network. The union will offer an exclusive master's degree program for hundreds of students each year, with time divided between both Loughborough and MIT. The center itself will focus on research and working with industry and will join the established SCALE Network that is already operating around the world in Spain, Luxembourg, China, and Colombia. Loughborough University will join the network alongside existing centers: MIT CTL, the Zaragoza Logistics Center (ZLC) in Spain, the Center for Latin-American Logistics Innovation (CLI) in Colombia, the Luxembourg Centre for Logistics and Supply Chain Management (LCL), and the Ningbo China Institute for Supply Chain Innovation (NISCI). The four university centers (MIT, ZLC, LCL, and NISCI) offer their own master’s programs, while CLI offers a Graduate Certificate in Logistics and Supply Chain Management. The School of Business and Management at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Tsinghua University’s PBC School of Finance signed a memorandum of understanding to deepen collaboration, including the launch of a bilingual Doctor of Business Administration program. The schools will establish exchange opportunities for students and faculty and explore the development of non-degree executive programs. Under this partnership, both schools will use their respective strengths to foster cooperation in academic exchange, research, and education and training, and carry out other strategic collaborations. CollaborationsGlobal luxury goods group Kering announced a three-year research collaboration with the Centre of Governance and Sustainability (CGS) at the National University of Singapore Business School that is poised to establish a first-of-its-kind baseline for measuring the impact of climate and nature-related transition strategies adopted by 50 corporations across Asia Pacific. Three research studies are set to unfold in three phases: the first and third studies will focus on nature-related issues, while the second study will concentrate on climate transition. On the back of these future insights, Kering and CGS also plan to host a series of strategy workshops to facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration among sectors and industries. Bisk, an online and corporate education provider, is expanding its partnership with Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, launching the Data-Driven Leadership and Digital Transformation Certificate series this fall. The series offers three new online certificate pathways centered on Business and Digital Transformation, Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence through Emory Executive Education by Goizueta Business School. Tailored to meet the needs of businesses navigating digital transformation, participants will use technology, data science, and AI in conjunction with core business principles to strategically lead, analyze, and continually anticipate and adapt to the dynamic business landscape. The inaugural certificate series begins October 1, with each certificate offered three times throughout the year. Nottingham Trent University in the U.K. has launched a partnership with the Elite Hockey League team the Nottingham Panthers. The partnership gives Panthers players the opportunity to study at Nottingham Business School (NBS) for a postgraduate degree. “We are looking forward to welcoming Panthers’ representatives to NBS where they will each receive a personalised learning experience tailored to their ambition,” said Baback Yazdani, executive dean and professor of Nottingham Business School. Centers and FacilitiesDeakin University has welcomed the inaugural group of students to its GIFT City Campus in Gujarat, India, with classes starting at the country’s first-ever international university branch campus. The students are the first to study a Master of Cyber Security (Professional) or Master of Business Analytics qualification on campus—and on home soil—on India’s west coast. GIFT City Campus will teach students under the Australian model of education, with industry placements and partnerships integrated into the curriculum. |
On June 28, global mining company Anglo American officially handed over one of the iconic buildings at its former campus in the Johannesburg, South Africa, central business district to Wits Business School (WBS) at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, demonstrating the company’s broad commitment to education, entrepreneurship, and leaving a positive legacy in the district. The eight-floor,15,000-square-meter building will allow WBS to launch the Wits Crucible, a state-of-the-art Centre for Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation, providing crucial business education, business incubation, and business acceleration services for youth and entrepreneurs in the Johannesburg inner city. Bridging the gap between academic learning and real-world entrepreneurial experience, the Wits Crucible will provide four key units of entrepreneurship development support for youth, student entrepreneurs, and Wits graduates. 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]. Submission guidelines are at aacsb.edu/insights/articles/submissions/guidelines. |
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