The University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler School of Business has named its own James W. Dean, Jr. to serve as the next dean of the school. Dean’s appointment is expected to be approved at a meeting of the university’s Board of Trustees later this week.
Pending approval at the July 24th board meeting, Dean will succeed Steve Jones, who completes his term at the end of this month. Dean’s appointment is scheduled to take effect beginning August 1st. Dean’s recommendation follows a national search led by a committee comprised of faculty, staff, alumni and business leaders. Barbara Rimer, dean of the School of Public Health, chaired the committee and communicated its recommendations to Bernadette Gray-Little, executive vice chancellor and provost, and then-Chancellor James Moeser. Dean, a professor of organizational behavior and strategy, has been a member of the UNC Kenan-Flagler faculty since 1997. His research, teaching and consulting have focused on the areas of leadership, organizational change, strategic decision making, international management and organizational performance improvement. In addition to his teaching and research, Dean also has held several leadership positions during his tenure at Kenan-Flagler. He served as the senior associate dean for academic affairs for the past year. Prior to that he served as the associate dean of executive development from 2002 through 2007 and as the associate dean of the MBA program from 1998 through 2002. In these roles, he increased the number and global reach of UNC’s non-degree program and led an innovative curriculum redesign of the MBA program. He also led the creation of corporate advisory boards for the MBA program and developed a strong professional team to guide its admissions, student services and career services. | 
