Kellogg welcomes incoming Dean Sally Blount

'I can't wait to begin,' Blount tells the Kellogg community

By Rachel Farrell

	Incoming Dean Sally Blount

On the morning of March 30, Northwestern University Provost Daniel I. Linzer announced that Sally Blount, dean of the undergraduate college and vice dean of the Stern School of Business at New York University, would take office as the next dean of the Kellogg School in July.

That same day, Blount made her first appearance before the Kellogg community. At a morning reception, Kellogg senior administrators and department chairs greeted Blount with a standing ovation as she took to the podium in the atrium of the James L. Allen Center. In the afternoon, a crowd of Kellogg students, faculty, staff and friends filled the atrium in the Donald P. Jacobs Center to await her arrival. As Blount entered the room, the Kellogg audience erupted in cheers and applause.

Blount reciprocated that enthusiasm.

"I feel a deep sense of honor to be following in the footsteps of great deans like Don Jacobs and Dipak Jain, as well as pride and gratitude," she said. "But most of all, I feel excited to be here with all of you — to be returning home to Evanston and Northwestern."

Blount, 48, is a widely respected leader in global business education. After graduating from Kellogg with a PhD in management and organizations in 1992, Blount joined the faculty at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where she was consistently rated among the top MBA and executive education professors. She joined New York University in 2001 and was named dean of the undergraduate college and vice dean of the Stern School of Business in 2004. Three years later, she was appointed by the university president and provost as special adviser for global academic integration.

At NYU, Blount set fundraising records, secured the school's first-ever $15 million gift and led Stern to become a recognized innovator in undergraduate business education. Under her leadership, the average SAT score of the entering freshman class increased by nearly 50 points, and student participation in global semester study abroad increased from 25 percent to 75 percent. Blount also initiated numerous curricular innovations, including a required four-course social impact core and two global degree options.

Janice Eberly, the John L. and Helen Kellogg Professor of Finance and chair of the dean search committee, said that Blount is the right person for the job. "Sally is ready to take Kellogg to the next level," she said. "She knows that great things begin here."

In her first few months at Kellogg, Blount plans "to spend time with all of our students across our broad portfolio of programs," she said. "And I want to work with our faculty to think deeply about what we believe management research and education should be in the 21st century and Kellogg's second century.

"There is much work to do," she concluded. "I can't wait to begin."

To learn more about incoming Dean Sally Blount, please visit kellogg.northwestern.edu/New_Dean

Incoming Dean Sally Blount addressed faculty, staff and students in the Jacobs Center atrium on March 30. "I feel a deep sense of honor to be following in the footsteps of great deans like Don Jacobs and Dipak Jain," she said. Photo © Nathan Mandell