People and Places: April 2025
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 Douglas Davenport has been named dean of the Harmon College of Business and Professional Studies at the University of Central Missouri (UCM) in Warrensburg. He has served as interim dean since last July and assumes the permanent position on July 1. In that role, Davenport established a faculty-led strategic planning task force, supported the school’s reaffirmation of 91泡芙 accreditation, and secured funding to restore faculty research grants. Before joining UCM, he served as provost and vice president for academic and student affairs at Missouri Western State University. Davenport took on the interim role at UCM upon the departure of Mark Suazo, who accepted the position of dean of the College of Business Administration at California State University, Long Beach. |
 On April 1, Joyendu “Joy” Bhadury became dean of the Byran School of Business and Economics at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), after serving as interim dean of the college since last July. He first joined the business school as a professor in 2007. During his career there, Bhadury also served as the associate dean of research and graduate programs for the Bryan School, where he led significant improvements in external research funding and graduate program enrollment. In 2016, he left UNCG to take the role of dean at the Davis College of Business and Economics at Radford University in Virginia, followed by his second appointment as dean at the School of Business and Management at the State University of New York Brockport in 2018. Bhadury succeeds McRae C. Banks, who was dean for 13 years and retired in February 2024. |
 At the beginning of the 2025–26 academic year, Avinandan Mukherjee will become the next provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Georgia Southern University. Currently serving as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Marshall University, Mukherjee has held a variety of posts over his seven years at the West Virginia institution, including as dean of the Lewis College of Business. He also oversaw enrollment management and spearheaded strategic collaboration with external and internal stakeholders. Prior to joining Marshall, Mukherjee was dean of the College of Business at Clayton State University in Morrow, Georgia. As provost at Georgia Southern, Mukherjee will succeed Carl Reiber, who has held the role since 2018. |
 Bharat Anand has been announced as the Richard R. West Dean of the New York University Stern School of Business. Anand has been a member of the Harvard Business School (HBS) faculty since 1998, when he joined as an assistant professor of business administration. He most recently served as the faculty chair and first senior associate dean of HBS Online. Anand will start his new position in August, succeeding J.P. Eggers, who has led the college on an interim basis since February. |
New ProgramsThis fall, the College of Business at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln is launching a new core curriculum for undergraduate business majors. The holistic overhaul aims to help students reach their full potential through hands-on learning, corporate engagement, and peer-to-peer mentorship. First-year students at Nebraska Business will begin with three foundational courses that enable them to explore how different business disciplines intersect, discover their personal strengths, and consider what career paths to pursue. The new curriculum will offer two new courses designed to help students elevate their verbal communication, adaptability, and critical-thinking skills while also leveraging new technologies. The Feliciano School of Business at Montclair State University has designed two new programs that will begin welcoming students in the fall of 2025. The Bachelor of Arts in economics degree will prepare students to interpret data, understand market trends, and influence economic strategies. In addition, the new graduate certificate in supply chain management aims to address the evolving demand within the supply chain sector. Taught entirely online, the two programs were designed to be accessible to both full-time professionals and students. Imperial College Business School in London has introduced a new executive education program designed to help leaders challenge the relationship between profit and ethical decision-making. The five-day on-campus program, called , was created in collaboration with Imperial’s Centre for Responsible Leadership. Through case studies, students will be immersed in contextual leadership projects as they explore the real-world challenges of AI, digital transformation, and climate change. Participants must also complete an online pre- and post-work analysis session that will create development opportunities tailored to learners’ individual needs. IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland, has added two new executive education degrees designed to prepare students to drive enterprisewide transformation in today’s rapidly changing business landscape. The new Executive Master in AI and Digital Business Transformation and new Executive Master in Sustainable Business Transformation aim to address critical skill and capability gaps and enable professionals to pivot their careers into these high-demand areas. The new degree programs will be stackable, allowing participants to tailor their learning journey through their selection of core courses and electives. The degree programs can be completed in as little as 18 months up to five years. CollaborationsEHL Hospitality Business School and LVMH, a luxury goods manufacturer, are launching an executive education program focused on training participants for leadership roles in premium and luxury market segments. The Leading Sustainable Excellence in Luxury Retail and Hospitality program will equip graduates with the skills needed to analyze evolving consumer demands, craft compelling brand strategies, and foster innovation and sustainability as a core value within organizations. The 10-month program, which will debut at EHL’s Lausanne, Switzerland, campus in October, includes a weeklong immersive business trip to the iconic , a six-month internship, and a hands-on capstone business project. The executive master’s program is tailored for professionals holding a bachelor’s or master's degree from EHL, or for other master’s-level professionals with a background in luxury, hospitality, or marketing. Through the Deloitte Foundation, the Smeal College of Business at The Pennsylvania State University in University Park is working with the , which will provide selected students with scholarships to cover 100 percent of their tuition and academic fees. Students pursuing a fifth-year Master of Accounting or Master of Taxation program are eligible to apply. International Business School Suzhou at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) in China is partnering with , a multinational technology company, to create the Suzhou Pudu Co-Intelligence Technology Company. Launched last month, Pudu Co-Intelligence aims to blend research and talent development at universities with real-world industrial scenarios. XJTLU and Baidu will develop an artificial intelligence certificate program, host student competitions, and collaborate on research activities, faculty resources, forums, and white papers. The organizations also are planning to collaborate on the Pudu Co-Intelligence AI Learning Space, which will use AI systems to offer personalized learning paths, mixed-reality labs, and intelligent evaluation and feedback tools. Grants and DonationsThe Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics at the University of Delaware is receiving 71.5 million USD from The Siegfried Group, LLP, a national leadership advisory and talent delivery firm, and longtime supporters and alumni Kathleen and Robert Siegfried, Jr. This gift represents the largest contribution from an individual or family in the university’s history. The money will support the construction of a new facility for the Lerner College, which will include classrooms, research and teaching labs, a student-run café, and an auditorium. Siegfried Hall will also be the host site of the new Siegfried Institute for Leadership and Free Enterprise, an “idea lab” that will contribute to developing the capabilities and characteristics of effective leadership. The university hopes to break ground on the new building within the next four years. Centers and FacilitiesThe University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business in Columbia has launched the South Carolina Economic Policy Center (EPiC), which will be led by Orgul Ozturk, department chair and professor of economics. EPiC is designed to bridge the gap between academic research and policy evaluation and development by serving as a hub for collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and relationship-building. The center will work in conjunction with local stakeholders—leaders from government, nonprofits, and industry—to help all business students gain practical hands-on experience through consulting projects and publications. On March 18, the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil formally opened the at the university’s Center for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. The new hub will allow students and researchers to explore advancements in artificial intelligence—particularly in areas that improve security, efficiency, and reliability—that will impact the future of customer experience. As part of the partnership with USP, the global technology company also opened applications for undergraduate research grants that will be awarded to eight students on an annual basis. Additionally, TELUS Digital’s three-year investment will include funding support for postdoctoral fellowships and a visiting scholars program. The Kogod School of Business at American University in Washington, D.C., has established the Institute for Applied Artificial Intelligence aimed at innovating teaching with AI, enhancing real-world learning opportunities for students, and advancing high-impact research. Among the faculty and staff members who will lead the center are Gwanhoo Lee, chair of the Department of Information Technology and Analytics, and Angela Virtu, a professorial lecturer in the same department. Earlier this month, Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, broke ground for a reimagined building to house the Mitch Daniels School of Business. The new 164,000-square-foot structure will include flexible space for instruction and conferences. It will also house teaching and research labs for financial trading, data visualization, behavioral research, and experiential learning. The new facility will be built between the existing ones, joining the Krannert Building and Jerry S. Rawls Hall. It is expected to be finished by fall 2027. In Memoriam Allan D. Spritzer, the dean emeritus of the then–College of Business at East Tennessee State University (ETSU) in Johnson City, died last month. Spritzer joined ETSU in 1981 as dean and professor of management and was appointed the Allen and Ruth Harris Chair of Excellence in Business in 1999. Upon his retirement in 2020, ETSU honored him with emeritus status for each of the three roles he held with the university—professor, dean, and chair of excellence. He also served 91泡芙 in many capacities, including as a facilitator for the Aspiring Deans Seminar and New Deans Seminar.
If you have news of interest to share with the business education community, please submit press releases, relevant images, or other information to 91泡芙 Insights via our online submission form at aacsb.edu/insights/articles/submissions/guidelines. |
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