Master Kellogg Teacher Gains Deanship At WashU's Olin School

Michael Mazzeo will become the new dean of the Olin Business School at Washington University (Photo credit: Doug Birkenheuer/WUSTL

After a six-month search, Washington University today (March 3) found a new dean for Olin Business School at nearby Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business.

Michael Mazzeo, a master teacher who has won numerous awards for his classroom prowess over nearly a quarter of a century at Kellogg, will move to St. Louis as Olin’s new dean on Jan. 1 of 2024. He succeeds Anjan V. Thakor who has served as interim dean since July when Mark P. Taylor stepped down from the job.

Mazzeo, 52, will be joining a business school, with a $190 million annual budget, that has been steadily rising in rankings thanks to a new vision and four-pillar strategy focused on innovation, data, values and experiential learning, a new and more global MBA curriculum and technology advances to enhance remote learning by former Dean Taylor. The school’s full-time MBA program now ranks among the Top 25 in the U.S., earning the 23rd spot in Poets&Quants 2022-2023 ranking, up from 29 a year earlier.

OLIN BUSINESS SCHOOL WILL HAVE AS ITS NEW DEAN A MASTER MBA TEACHER

A long-time professor of strategy, Mazzeo brings significant administrative experience to the job. He was the senior associate dean of curriculum and teaching at Kellogg from 2017-2020 and faculty director of the school’s evening and weekend MBA and master’s in management studies programs. Mazzeo also was the point person on the Kellogg team who responded to the academic disruption caused by COVID-19 and brought lessons from that experience to innovation in the school’s working professional degree programs.

Mazzeo is known as one of Kellogg’s most outstanding MBA teachers. A three-time recipient of the Chairs’ Core Course Teaching Award, he also won three Best Elective teaching awards in the MBA and executive MBA programs. But he also has delivered outside the classroom. Mazzeo teamed up with fellow business professors Paul Oyer, of Stanford University, and Scott Schaefer, of the University of Utah, in 2010 to launch Roadside MBA. Over the last 12 years, they have visited more than 250 small and medium-sized businesses in more than 30 states and 12 countries in search of stories that illustrate important ideas taught in leading MBA programs. That initiative led to the publication of a book in 2014: Roadside MBA: Backroad Lessons for Entrepreneurs, Executives and Small Business Owners.

“It’s an honor to be named the next dean of Olin Business School, a place known for its values-based and data-driven approach to educating leaders,” Mazzeo said in a statement. “WashU is a world-class institution on a path toward even greater distinction as a global leader in higher education. I’m excited for the opportunity to work closely with students, faculty and staff to build upon Olin’s proud tradition of excellence.”

‘MIKE STOOD OUT AS AN IMPRESSIVE CANDIDATE FROM THE BEGINNING’

“I am thrilled that Mike Mazzeo accepted our offer to be the next dean of the Olin Business School,” WashU Chancellor Andrew D. Martin added in a statement announcing the appointment. “Mike stood out as an impressive candidate from the beginning of the search process. We’re fortunate to have found such a talented leader and scholar to assume this role and build upon Olin’s global reputation as a leader in business education and scholarship.”

Anastasia Crosswhite, Donald A. Snead, and Ponneh Varho of the executive search firm of SpencerStuart assisted in the recruitment, along with an 11-member search committee that published a 12-page profile for the job.

“I also want to take this opportunity to recognize and express my gratitude to Anjan Thakor for his service as interim dean. He has been a strong and steady presence during the past seven months and has been invaluable in ensuring a seamless transition for the Olin community. I’m especially grateful to Dean Thakor for continuing to serve in this interim role through the end of the calendar year.”

THE NEW OLIN BUSINESS SCHOOL DEAN SPENT NEARLY A QUARTER OF A CENTURY AT KELLOGG

Mazzeo joined Kellogg’s strategy department as an assistant professor in 1998 after graduating from Stanford University with a doctorate in economics. He also earned his bachelor’s degree in economics and urban studies at Stanford in 1991. Mazzeo’s research focuses on empirical industrial organization, in particular developing new statistical methodologies for examining the relationship between product differentiation strategies and market competition. His work spans a variety of industries including airlines, banking, health care, lodging, retail and telecommunications.

He got his first taste of administrative work in 2017 when Mazzeo became senior associate dean for curriculum and teaching. In 2021, he was named faculty director of the school’s evening and weekend MBA and MiM programs. In these roles, Mazzeo facilitated the creation of new curricular pathways to meet the evolving needs of students in areas such as technology management; diversity, equity and inclusion; and sustainability. He oversaw an innovative data analytics unit that provided insights everywhere from faculty hiring to reputation to student career outcomes.

“It’s fitting that Mike is a professor of strategy as what struck me during our conversations was his bold, strategic thinking, as well as his commitment to using data to identify and advance opportunities for improvements,” said Beverly Wendland, provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, in the announcement.

DAD TO A FIRST YEAR STUDENT AT NYU

“The breadth and depth of his experience at Kellogg prepares him well for this role, and we’re fortunate to have such a tested leader. Olin is a strong asset for WashU, and I know that the university as a whole will be stronger as a result of Mike’s deanship.”

Father of a first-year student at New York University, Mazzeo volunteers his time as a member of the board of directors of Howard Brown Health, the largest LGBTQ-affirming healthcare organization in the Midwest.

Olin awards more than 1,300 degrees annually in programs taught by 134 full–time faculty members with respective increases of 45% and 58% over the past decade. Once comprised mainly of undergraduate and full–time MBA students, the school now offers a full range of academic programs: an elite undergraduate program; various specialized master’s programs (on campus and online); full–time, part–time, online, and executive MBA programs; a Ph.D. program; a DBA program for senior executives, undergraduate and graduate degrees in entrepreneurship, and customized executive education offerings.