Following Dean’s Departure, Simon Business School Turns To A Veteran Faculty Leader

Rochester Simon’s search for a permanent successor to outgoing Dean Sevin Yeltekin is underway

The University of Rochester has appointed Mitch Lovett as interim dean of the Simon Business School, effective July 1. 

Lovett, who joined the Simon faculty in 2008, currently serves as senior associate dean of education and innovation and holds the title of Benjamin Forman Professor of Marketing. 

“I am honored to serve as interim dean of the Simon Business School and to move forward on its academic and strategic vision,” Lovett says in a statement published by the University of Rochester News Center. “I look forward to working in close partnership with our faculty, staff, students, and alumni to advance Simon’s mission and ensure its continued impact — ever better.”

A COMMITTED & RESPECTED MENTOR

Rochester Simon’s Mitch Lovett

Lovett has played a central role in advancing Simon’s academic initiatives, including the launch of the school’s AI Initiative and two new degrees: the full-time MS in Artificial Intelligence in Business and the Online MS in Business Analytics and Applied AI.

A marketing scholar whose research spans advertising, branding, word-of-mouth, political marketing, and consumer learning, Lovett’s work has been published in leading academic journals and featured in The New York Times, Forbes, and Ad Age. According to the Rochester News Center, he is “a dedicated mentor to Ph.D. students and an award-winning instructor, teaching courses in marketing research, analytics, and strategy.”

Lovett is widely known at Simon for his commitment to student mentorship and his teaching excellence in courses on marketing research, analytics, and strategy. His appointment as the Simon School’s interim dean comes as the school continues to build momentum around innovation in business education.

University Provost Nicole Sampson praised the appointment, saying Lovett “is an exceptional academic leader who brings deep expertise in both scholarship and innovation in business education.”

SIMON: A CONSISTENT TOP-35 B-SCHOOL IN THE U.S.

The Simon School in recent years has maintained a consistent position in national and international rankings. In the 2025 U.S. News & World Report rankings, Simon’s full-time MBA is tied at No. 32 among U.S. business schools. Bloomberg Businessweek ranks Simon at No. 28 in its 2024-25 U.S. MBA rankings — exactly where Poets&Quants ranks Simon in our latest list of top U.S. MBA programs. Additionally, The Financial Times places Simon at No. 60 globally in its 2025 MBA rankings, down from No. 55 in 2024.

Lovett succeeds Sevin Yeltekin, who has been named dean of George Washington University’s School of Business and professor of finance starting on August 1. Yeltekin has led the Simon Business School since 2020 and had been reappointed to a second five-year term as dean in November 2024. 

During her tenure, Yeltekin developed Simon’s 2025 strategic plan, which prioritizes investing in intellectual capital and research, and oversaw the creation of several new programs, including the MS in Artificial Intelligence in Business and the Online MS in Business Analytics and Applied AI that Mitch Lovett helped steer to launch. She also led a comprehensive generative AI initiative to embed AI education into the curriculum.

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