Michael Ginzberg will take over as the new dean of the Kogod School of Business this summer, coming to AU from his current position as associate provost and dean at Yeshiva University in New York.
He will replace retiring Kogod Dean Richard Durand, who has headed the school for six years.
Ginzberg said he chose to apply for the position at AU because he saw it as a new challenge as well as a place where he could make a contribution.
“It is a great school at a great university in a terrific location,” Ginzberg said.
He said a main challenge he see revolves around making Kogod more recognized by potential students, the organizations that rank schools, faculty and deans at other business schools.
“It is the type of challenge I was looking for,” he said. “It was the position that I wanted and to have been offered the job made me feel great.”
However, Ginzberg added that “[the school] has all the right pieces, staff, students, faculty, really across the board.”
To recruit those potential students, Ginzberg plans to tell a “compelling story” about what makes Kogod unique.
“We’ll put a fair amount of effort and work into communicating that,” he said.
Ginzberg said his goal is to create a clear image for Kogod, which he potentially envisions as business and government coming together in an international arena, although that is subject to a committee of faculty, staff and students to be established this summer to better determine the vision.
“The spot that Kogod has the greatest opportunity to draw on is the assets of the University, of Washington, D.C.,” Ginzberg said.
He said he speculates that is was his experience — with 10 years as a dean between the University of Delaware and Yeshiva — that made him stand out as a candidate.
“From that experience, there’s a track record of accomplishment of bringing about change,” Ginzberg said. “I also have a management style in which I am accessible, fairly easy to get along with and very open.”
He describes himself as the type of leader that hires well, delegates and then stays out of the way of his staff.
“I don’t believe any one person can or should do everything,” he said. “You bring in people as strong as possible in the areas they’re going to be responsible for and empower them to accomplish what you want.”
To promote an image of an accessible dean, Ginzberg hopes to work through student organization leaders to keep his “finger on the pulse,” as well as conversing with as many students as possible, through Kogod events, e-mails and walks around the building.
Ginzberg plans to begin at Kogod June 1, a month before he officially takes office as dean.
Selection process
The search committee, chaired by Professor Heather Elms, began the six-month-long process in October, culminating in an evaluation of the final candidates’ strengths and weaknesses.
“[Ginzberg] is really committed to continuing Kogod’s current trajectory in terms of success and adding to the slope of that trajectory,” Elms said, citing Ginzberg’s experience and energy as key positives.
Provost Scott Bass added that Ginzberg has a “rich portfolio” of experience.
“He is a seasoned administrator with a great deal of experience in all aspects of administration,” Bass said. “His work has also been in the international area, and there is a strong international theme in Kogod.”
Students on the search committee ran “Meet the Dean” sessions where students could speak to candidates, according to Elms.
“The search committee is the group that has spent the most time with any of the candidates,” Elms said. “We’re supportive of all of them and we are very pleased by this choice.”
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