GMAC Names New Board Chair, Adds 4 Members & UC Riverside To Expanding Global Network

Catherine Duggan, director of the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business, has been elected chair of GMAC’s board

The Graduate Management Admission Council has announced a new slate of board appointments and the addition of a new member school.

Catherine Duggan, director of the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business and a GMAC board member since 2022, has been elected chair of the board. Three new members — David Bach, president of Switzerland’s International Institute for Management Development (IMD); Jake Cohen, senior associate dean at MIT Sloan School of Management; and Ian Fenwick, director of Sasin School of Management at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand — have also joined the board. Ana María Zermeño Padilla of EGADE Business School at Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico has been re-elected to serve her first full term.

The new board term began July 1, 2025.

UC RIVERSIDE BECOMES GMAC’S 228TH MEMBER SCHOOL

Alongside the leadership update, GMAC has added the University of California, Riverside School of Business as its 228th member institution.

UC Riverside, home to the A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management, recently opened a new business school facility and offers a wide array of master’s programs. The school joins GMAC to strengthen its engagement with the council’s global network and resources.

“These industry leaders from across continents, and the highly-regarded UC Riverside, join us at a time of major shifts in talent mobility, technology, and skill development,” says GMAC CEO Joy Jones. “Their perspectives will help us advance our mission to develop cross-culturally competent and globally aware business leaders.”

‘INSIGHT & AGILITY’

The leadership changes come as GMAC pushes forward with several initiatives aimed at supporting prospective business students and schools. Earlier this year, the nonprofit launched Advancery, an AI-powered tool designed to guide candidates through business school exploration and application processes by linking skills identification, program selection, and application strategy.

Incoming board chair Catherine Duggan highlighted the continued importance of graduate management education during periods of change. “Students matched with the right management program develop the insight and agility that organizations need now and in the future,” she says.

GMAC also acknowledged outgoing board chair Themin Suwardy of Singapore Management University, who will continue in an ex officio role, and departing board members Martin Boehm of Hult International Business School and Giuseppe Soda of Bocconi University.

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