2008 Headlines
Much-honored faculty member, Joe Thomas, takes the helm of Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management
March 27, 2008 | Ithaca, NY | Joe Thomas, a noted scholar, dynamic teacher and proven academic administrator, has been named dean of Cornell University's world-renowned Johnson Graduate School of Management. Thomas has been serving with great success as interim dean since June of 2007. The appointment will be submitted for approval by the Executive Committee of the Cornell Board of Trustees at its April meeting.
In a Cornell Chronicle article, Dean Joe Thomas discusses some of his ideas and goals as he takes over leadership of the Johnson School.
Cornell President David J. Skorton welcomed the news of Thomas' appointment saying, "Joe Thomas is a superb choice to lead the Johnson School, a school well known for its strong research faculty, its innovative and world-class educational programs, and the success of its graduates."
"I am delighted to welcome Joe to Cornell's academic leadership," said Cornell Provost Carolyn Martin. "He is a distinguished scholar, award-winning teacher, and generous citizen who brings experience in both business and academia to his work. He has already contributed significantly to the school's growth and enduring success with his broad experience and dedication, his vision and energy, his integrity and steady leadership. Over the past year, Joe has served as an interim dean in name only. He has a deep understanding of the school's strategy for the future and has worked with faculty, staff, students and alumni to implement a number of important initiatives. Those initiatives will set the Johnson School apart from its peers as the premier institution for quality research and education and for the preparation of future leaders."
Upon accepting the appointment, Thomas stated: "Cornell's Johnson School is the place where tomorrow's business leaders are exposed to the theory and practice of business management that is required in today's world economy. Our students learn and work alongside a distinguished and growing faculty steeped in some of the most relevant research on the issues that shape today's business world. I am honored to assume this new responsibility at a time when the Johnson School is poised to lead the way."
Thomas will oversee an Ivy League graduate business school with 86 full, visiting and adjunct faculty; 110 staff; and more than 800 students and 12,000 alumni, with a budget of over $60 million and an endowment of $154 million; fostering innovations such as the Parker Center for Investment Research and other immersion programs.
"Joe Thomas embodies what is great about the Johnson School and Cornell," said Johnson School Associate Dean Mark Nelson, the Eleanora and George Landew Professor of Management and Professor of Accounting. "Joe is a master teacher, distinguished scholar, and dedicated administrator, who has played a pivotal role in virtually every key initiative that defines us, including our immersion-focused residential MBA program, our accelerated MBA program, our executive MBA programs, our Ph.D. program, and our ongoing research mission. Joe has had plenty of opportunities to be a dean at another top school. I am very excited that he will be dean of the Johnson School."
Thomas, the Nicholas H. Noyes Professor of Manufacturing and professor of operations management at Cornell, has worked for several Fortune 100 companies and other organizations in consulting and executive education. He served as a board member for six years and as chair of UNICON, the University Consortium for Executive Education. He is the author of four books and over 50 articles, in journals such as: Management Science, Operations Research, Manufacturing and Services Operations Management, Transactions of IIE, European Journal of Operational Research, International Journal of Production Research, Decision Sciences, and the Journal of Operations Management. He is a member of INFORMS, M&SOM, POMS, DSI, IIE and APICS. He was a departmental editor of Management Science for six years and has served on many editorial boards and committees for professional organizations.
Thomas has been instrumental in helping grow the Johnson School tenure and tenure-track faculty by 54 percent in the last decade, to meet growing demands for MBA and executive MBA programs, and enhancing the school's functional strength in accounting and finance, marketing and management. He is a two-time winner of the Russell Distinguished Teaching Award (1996 and 2001) – the award given to a faculty member whose teaching and example continue to influence graduates five years out into their careers – and he has consulted for and been involved in management-education programs for several major companies. He has served the Johnson School as director of the doctoral program and director of executive education, and he has served Cornell as the chair of the Academic Leadership Series and chair of the Financial Policies Committee, among other administrative assignments.
"I couldn't be more pleased to see Joe Thomas appointed dean of the Johnson School," said Jeffrey P. Parker (Cornell '65, M.Eng '66, MBA '70), the noted business innovator and chair of the Advisory Council, who endowed the school's Parker Center for Investment Research. "Joe's reputation is without blemish. He is both well respected and highly regarded by the students, the alumni and his colleagues. Joe's love of the Johnson School and clear vision of the future of management education will make his tenure an exciting chapter in our history."
In a Cornell Chronicle article, Dean Joe Thomas discusses some of his ideas and goals as he takes over leadership of the Johnson School.
