Dean Search Committee Update

During the past 35 years, the Kellogg School has had two remarkable leaders at the helm: Donald P. Jacobs and Dipak C. Jain.

The committee that has been convened to search for the school's next dean faces a challenging task in identifying the person who will follow in their footsteps.

As previously detailed in communications with the alumni community, the 12-member committee — composed of Kellogg alumni, faculty, staff, several Northwestern University deans and one Kellogg student — has been working to identify the qualities desired in the next dean and possible candidates for the position. By early 2010, the committee will propose those candidates to Northwestern University President Morton Schapiro and Provost Daniel Linzer. Until a new dean is named, Sunil Chopra, the IBM Distinguished Professor of Operations Management, will serve as interim dean.

Janice Eberly, the John L. and Helen Kellogg Professor of Finance and chair of the Dean Search Committee, shared details about the global search.

What has the committee accomplished so far?

The committee has completed its outreach phase. During that phase, we reached out to tens of thousands of alumni through e-mail; hosted forums with the global Executive MBA students and the Full-Time and Part-Time students; talked to faculty, staff and academic departments; and sent out a community e-mail seeking candidate nominations and input on what qualities the new dean might possess. We have synthesized the data gathered from the Kellogg community and are now considering a broad range of talented candidates. We are narrowing those candidates down to a small group for preliminary interviews. We plan to begin the first round of interviews soon.

What did the committee learn from the outreach phase?

Each member of the Kellogg community has his or her own voice, which is why the committee conducted an extended outreach to alumni, students, staff, faculty and friends of the school. It was impressive to see, however, how much coherence there is among the viewpoints of these different constituencies. All value the school's strengths, yet want to see Kellogg stretch as a world-class, preeminent business school. This is a demanding challenge, requiring a dean who is an effective advocate and an accomplished manager, and who values and appreciates the quality scholarship, diversity and culture that is uniquely Kellogg.

While the process is ongoing, have you determined any qualities that you'd like to see in the incoming dean?

Clearly, Kellogg has a global presence and a very diverse community. We need a dean who can connect with all the constituencies — including alumni, students, faculty and staff — because all those groups are part of any direction that the school takes. 

The committee is composed of individuals from a variety of constituent groups. How has that strengthened the search?

It's very valuable. Each of their points of view gives us a different perspective on the role of the dean within the school. We hear from students about the importance of the classroom experience and the culture beyond it. We hear from faculty about the importance of world-class academic standards. We hear from alumni about how they like staying in touch with the school. And we hear from the staff about how they value the Kellogg culture and being part of the community — and these perspectives are only a sample of the many voices incorporated into our discussions. Nonetheless, we have a very strong sense of engagement and common mission.

Kellogg Dean Search Committee members

Janice Eberly, John L. and Helen Kellogg Professor of Finance; Chair, Dean Search Committee

Gregory Carpenter, James Farley/Booz Allen Hamilton Professor of Marketing Strategy

Timothy Feddersen, Wendell Hobbs Professor of Managerial Economics & Decision Sciences; Director, Social Enterprise at Kellogg

Roxanne Hori, Assistant Dean and Director, Career Management Center

Thomas Hubbard, John L. and Helen Kellogg Professor of Management & Strategy

Bryan Law '10, President, Kellogg Student Association

H. John Livingston '93, Managing Partner, McKinsey & Company, Chicago

Matthew B. McCall '91 (MMM '92), Partner, New World Ventures; Managing Director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson Portage

Sarah Mangelsdorf, Dean, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences

J. Keith Murnighan, Harold H. Hines Jr. Professor of Risk Management

Beverly Walther, Professor of Accounting Information & Management

David Van Zandt, Dean, School of Law