People and Places: September 12, 2023

Article

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

By AACSB Staff

KU receives a 50 million USD commitment, and new deans join UM–Dearborn, Grambling State, and Western Washington.

Transitions

Frédéric Brunel is the new dean of the College of Business at the University of Michigan–Dearborn. He previously spent 26 years at the Questrom School of Business at Boston University, serving both as a member of the marketing faculty and as associate dean for undergraduate programs. Over the course of his career, he has taught at the undergraduate, MBA, doctoral, and executive levels. His research focuses on consumer relationships and product design in areas such as word-of-mouth dynamics and customer relations management. He is a past treasurer of the Association for Consumer Research. He began his new role as dean on July 1.

Derrick V. Warren has become dean of the College of Business at Grambling State University in Louisiana. He previously was associate dean and director of graduate programs for the Southern University (SU) College of Business in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; he also was academic director of the Law.Agriculture/Art.Business.Science.Engineering.Technology initiative through the SU Law Center. Prior to his roles with Southern, Warren spent more than 32 years with IBM. He served as the IBM–SU system contact for IBM Global University Programs, where he led a partnership that provided technology, research opportunities, and financial support for in-demand technical skills to students, faculty, and key stakeholders. Among his goals at Grambling State will be to infuse technology into the school’s offerings and to leverage industry partnerships.

Deanna Kennedy has been chosen as the next dean of Western Washington University’s College of Business and Economics (CBE) in Bellingham. She comes to Western from the University of Washington at Bothell, where she was associate dean for academics in the School of Business. She previously held a visiting professorship at Texas A&M University in College Station. In her earlier roles, she gained leadership and administrative expertise, knowledge of the regional higher education landscape, and experience with accreditation. She officially will start her new role at Western on September 18. Outgoing dean Scott Young will remain at Western as a professor.

New Programs

The School of Management (SOM) at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, is pairing its existing Master in Asset Management and full-time MBA programs to launch a dual MS/MBA in Asset Management degree. Students who choose the new option will complete the first-year core curriculum of the MBA program before undertaking coursework from the STEM-certified Master in Asset Management program. The specialized master’s covers topics such as investment selection, asset allocation, portfolio management, and risk management. To gain firsthand practical experience, students will take part in an internship, company project, or research project with a Yale SOM finance professor. Students must apply to both programs separately; upon graduation, they will have earned both degrees.

The Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana is revamping its executive MBA program for 2024. The new two-year Global EMBA program will meet once a month for in-person residencies. Students will participate in a minimum of two international immersions, one at the beginning of the program and one in the final semester. During the June electives week, students also will have the option to participate in either on-campus electives or an additional international immersion. Immersions will be offered in the Global South as well as locations such as Beijing, Dublin, Jerusalem, London, and Rome.

The Business School at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Massachusetts is now offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in financial technology. In the Bachelor of Science in FinTech, students will develop analytical, operational, and marketing skills; build leadership and communication skills; choose from 18 specializations to customize their programs; and apply classroom knowledge to real-world projects. In the MS in Financial Technology program, students will complete core courses; choose additional courses from specialty areas such as financial mathematics, fintech analytics, or fintech development; and complete a capstone project that has practical significance for their companies. The new programs complement WPI’s existing minor and graduate certificates in fintech.

Collaborations

The Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has launched an online Master of Science in Business Cybersecurity (MSBC) in partnership with higher education services firm Noodle. The program employs both synchronous and asynchronous instruction to train students in proactive business strategies that address cybersecurity opportunities and challenges. The MSBC program attracts applicants with unconventional backgrounds by offering financial aid and by removing barriers to entry such as standardized testing. This is the third online graduate program that Haslam has created in collaboration with Noodle.

HEC Paris and the Climate School at Columbia University in New York City have announced a cooperative double degree program designed to train students in international management, climate science, and the implications of climate change for society. The multidisciplinary initiative will provide students with a systemic understanding of climate physics and its biological and societal implications, in conjunction with political science, economics, management, financial management, and quantitative analysis. After students complete their initial studies at HEC Paris, they are encouraged to take an optional gap year in which they participate in jobs, internships, and other business development opportunities. Following the gap year, they will attend three semesters of courses at Columbia’s Climate School. Students will earn both an MA in Climate and Society from the Columbia Climate School and a Master in Management from HEC Paris.

Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business in Tempe has developed two partnerships designed to boost financial literacy. The first, a collaboration with the Phoenix Union High School District (PXU), will incorporate financial literacy components into an existing economics class at a local high school. It was developed by Laura Lindsey, chair of the department of finance at W.P. Carey; Atif Ikram, clinical associate professor of finance; ASU finance faculty; and administrators and teachers at PXU. Students who achieve a C or above can earn college credit through dual enrollment in ASU’s universal learner courses. The second is a partnership with Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF), a nonprofit that provides professional development opportunities to educators. Through the partnership, ASU will create a personal finance certificate program on financial literacy for K-12 teachers. The online program, which includes content developed by NGPF and W.P. Carey faculty, consists of one course on investment management and one on risk management. Both are for-credit and could apply toward a graduate degree program.

Grants and Donations

The University of Kansas School of Business in Lawrence has received a 50 million USD commitment from an anonymous donor. The gift, the largest in KU School of Business history, will transform business education and research at the school by providing support for faculty professorships and fellowships. It also will go toward funding the school’s recently revamped entrepreneurship programs; career-focused opportunities within the school’s EY Professionalism Program; diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging initiatives; and study abroad and academic enrichment programs. Says Dan Martin, president of KU Endowment, “While a gift of this size is certainly newsworthy, it’s what this gift will enable that is truly worth noting.”

To spur gifts to the capital campaign at Miami University’s Farmer School of Business in Oxford, Ohio, the Farmer Family Foundation is offering to match all donations made through June 2025, up to 20 million USD. By enabling donors to double the size of their gifts, the pledge will provide additional support to scholarship programs, research projects, and curriculum revisions.

The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia has received a 10 million USD gift from Robin and Marc Wolpow’s Arbour Way Foundation. The money will fund healthcare entrepreneurship at Venture Lab, the center that serves student entrepreneurship across the university. The gift will support events, workshops, internships, and prizes for startups. In addition, the donation will fund case studies, research, a dedicated course, and an acceleration lab that will enable students to examine alumni ventures and undertake consulting projects. According to Erika James, dean of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, the Venture Lab provides students “with the tools and the support they need to bring their ideas to fruition.”

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