A Look Back and a Look Ahead

It's hard for me to believe that a little more than 100 days ago I became dean of the Carlson School of Management. So much has taken place in that period of time and I wanted to provide you with a bit of an update on what's happened and share a glimpse of what's to come.

Bringing the Carlson School to the World

Telling our story and engaging with alums and the business community are among my top priorities as dean. In the past three months I've been meeting with key corporations, business leaders, alumni, and the media. In May, I traveled to London where attended a gathering of our alumni and promoted our school and our faculty in meetings with Financial Times and The Economist. In case you missed it, I have included links to the FT video and story, which appeared in the June 4 issue.

Faculty

Growing the faculty is critical to the long-term success of the Carlson School. Thanks to additional funding from the University we will have five wonderful scholars joining us as assistant professors later this summer. Look for a formal announcement later this summer. The reputation of the Carlson School is incredibly strong and we are excited about our prospects of recruiting more talented faculty in the coming year.

SOBACO

We have great news related to the establishment of the Social Media and Business Analytics Collaborative (SOBACO). The University will be funding this initiative in the next fiscal year and we are actively seeking corporate partners to support research in this area. Social media is such an exciting area for both businesses and the University and I look forward to sharing more when we launch SOBACO in the fall.

Program News

We have launched a formal initiative to recruit more U.S. military veterans to the MBA Program and Commander Charles "Chip" Altman of the US Navy (Ret.) is helping us in this effort. We have a long and proud history of helping students transition from military to business careers and the addition of Chip helps us formalize our efforts and provide even better service to our veterans.

Phil Miller has been named assistant dean of our MBA Programs and the Graduate Business Career Center (GBCC) effective July 1. Phil is replacing Kathryn Carlson, who will fully retire in June 2013. Phil has been with the Consulting Enterprise for more than five years. Prior to joining the Carlson School, he worked at 3M and Ernst & Young's management consulting practice.

We made a commitment to the University to grow the Undergraduate Program and it looks like we will have a banner year in terms enrollment this fall. The demand for our Undergraduate program is astonishing and a testament to the work and dedication of everyone involved with it.

Upcoming Events

Below are some events that I will be attending this summer. I hope to see you at them.

August 14: Annual Summer Social in New York City
August 17: The 15th Annual Carlson Day at the Races held at Canterbury Park

Above: My video interview with Della Bradshaw of the Financial Times.