P&Q’s Must Reads: Business School Deans Coming And Going

Hello everyone  –- Welcome back to Poets&Quants’ Must Reads, a quick, digestible recap of the top business school news, sponsored by CentreCourt, P&Q’s virtual admission events.

I’m your host, Kristy Bleizeffer, and I’ll be highlighting the most important P&Q stories you might have missed. So, let’s get to it. 

No. 1: Business school deans coming and going

The W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State has a new dean with big plans. Ohad Kadan took the reins in July after spending 20 years as a finance professor at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis. Now, he wants to revisit Carey’s long-term vision to ask the big questions: “What do we want to become? What’s our identity? What’s our North Star?” he tells Poets&Quants.

Meanwhile, Villanova School of Business announced that the first female dean in its history will step down at the end of this academic year. Joyce E. A. Russell, who has been at the school for seven years, plans to stay at Villanova as a professor.

You can find our full interview with dean Kadan and Villanova’s announcement on dean Russell in our news tab.

No. 2: MBAs To Watch: Class Of 2022

This year, we feature 131 Class of 2022 profiles for our popular series: MBAs to Watch.  We believe these candidates, graduating from 70 of the top business schools from around the world, are primed to change the industries they will enter – and maybe the towns and countries they will live.

Before embarking on their MBA journey, this year’s class were coaches, Olympic divers, government leaders, mentors, startup founders, and more. You can read the full feature now, on our home page.

 No. 3: Wharton Tops U.S. News’ 2023 Undergrad B-School Ranking

Over on our sister site, Poets&Quants For Undergrads, the big news comes as little surprise: Wharton  again tops U.S. News’ latest ranking for the top Undergraduate business schools in the United States. 

In fact, Wharton has topped the ranking for most of the last decade. While this ranking is essentially a popularity contest since it based solely on what peer schools think of you, it’s one of the few rankings for undergraduate programs so it is watched by schools and school seekers alike. 

Rounding out the top four are the big-brand programs of MIT Sloan School of Management and UC-Berkeley Haas School of Business tied for second, University of Michigan Ross School of Business in fourth, and Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business and NYU Stern tied for No. 5. 

No. 4: Our Weekly Round Up of  News You Can Use

No matter where you are in your MBA journey, we bring several helpful stories for you this week.

First up: We’ve got the inside scoop from Yale’s admissions gate keepers on what they are looking for in a candidate. One word, authenticity: “Don’t try and predict what we’re looking for because we’re looking for so many different things. Stick to who you are,” says the assistant dean for our admissions. You can find the full story in our news roundup in our MBA news tab.

Next: For those looking for the right programs, we have the latest MBA class profile from Duke Fuqua. It, like other elite programs, saw a downturn in domestic apps this year, but filled the gap with internationals. Dartmouth Tuck also released its 2024 profile, hitting another record GMAT for the school. You can find other class profiles from the top b-schools in our admissions tab. 

Finally: If you’re coming to an MBA from engineering or tech, don’t miss this story from Fortuna Admissions: MBA Application Tips for Engineers and Tech Candidates The article highlights the essentials on positioning your application to stand out in a sea of excellence. The story is up now on our homepage.

And, that’s it for this week’s Must Reads recap. 

I also want to alert all the school seekers out there to CentreCourt’s upcoming MBA Festival events. Our next series, The MBA & Your Career, is happening October 4-5, and you can register for free on our events tab. 

For those interested in online MBAs, our next backstage event is November 15-16. Register now for free.

Again, I’m Kristy Bleizeffer, and you can join me next week, right here, for a recap of what’s important in the world of business education. Thanks for listening and, as always, stay informed!