Excitement about the appointment of a new dean

This week has been a particularly exciting start to a new term at the Kellogg School of Management, my final term here. Summer weather appears to have arrived as has the announcement of the new dean, Sally Blount.

Dean Blount addresses students, faculty and staff

Dean Blount addresses students, faculty and staff

This announcement was made and the new dean was quickly introduced to students, staff and faculty.

Dean Blount joins us from the Stern School of Business at New York University. However, in an emotional and personal speech she described her appointment at Kellogg as a homecoming.

She received her PhD from the Kellogg School of Management in 1992 after completing her bachelor’s degree at Princeton in 1983. Her impressive background also includes serving on the faculty at Chicago Booth School of Business and as a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group.

It is not her accomplished resume that has impressed students most so far though.

Students have been impressed by the presence and humility with which she spoke to the school during her introduction. She took time to introduce her family, reflect upon the great work of her predecessors in building Kellogg into a leading business school and her vision for the future of Kellogg.

Her vision is that Kellogg will continue to lead the way in providing a state of the art global business education.

Dean Blount will fully assume her role in July. Until then, interim dean Sunil Chopra will continue in his role. For my class in the one-year Kellogg MBA programme he has been our only dean and he has made tremendous progress for the school.

Personally, I have a great deal of gratitude for the support he gave us in making this year’s Kellogg Cares event the largest ever, with significant participation from across the school.

This announcement has brought the school together in thanking dean Chopra for his achievements so far and looking forward to a bright future with dean Blount.