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Northwestern University\u2019s Kellogg School of Management<\/a>\u2019s Dean Sally Blount has announced that she will step down at the end of the 2017-2018 academic year.<\/p>\n Blount is entering her seventh year as dean. The decision<\/a> to take a one-year sabbatical to travel, write, and ponder her \u201cfinal chapter in education\u201d has come as a surprise to most. It was apparently made during one of the multi-day retreats of silent reflection that Blount has taken in Rhode Island over the past decade.<\/p>\n She is the first and only woman to lead one of the prominent M7 business schools. Last month Blount successfully wrapped up Kellogg\u2019s first-ever major capital campaign which raised $365 million, including a doubling of contributions to the school\u2019s annual fund which surpassed more than $10 million for the first time. She was involved in every aspect of Kellogg\u2019s new $250 million Global Hub which officially opened in mid-March.<\/p>\n Blount\u2019s impressive list of academic achievements include welcoming the most gifted incoming class of MBAs ever, with the highest GMAT score ever recorded at the school and the highest average of any of the world\u2019s most well-known MBA programs with the exception of Stanford GSB. She also brought Kellogg to fourth place in the Poets & Quants\u2019 composite ranking, tying with UPenn Wharton and barely behind Chicago Booth, Stanford, and Harvard Business School.<\/p>\n According to a video message<\/a> to Kellogg\u2019s community, Blount has an almost 30-year history with the school, which began when \u201cKellogg took a chance on a pregnant doctoral student.\u201d Recently she was asked by the board to imagine that she was a new dean walking into the new Global Hub \u2013 what would she do next? While in Rhode Island, she realized that this question created \u201can opportunity for me to start thinking bravely about my own life in the ways that I have about the institutions I have led.\u201d She hopes that thinking about these subjects will show her \u201cwhat the person I want to become would do.\u201d<\/p>\n When Blount steps down, there will only be three female deans of Top 25 U.S. business schools: Judy Olian of UCLA Anderson; Erika James of Emory Goizueta; and Idalene F. Kesner of Indiana Kelley. None of the Top 20 business schools outside the U.S. has a woman as its dean.<\/p>\n Related Resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 Best MBA Programs<\/a>, a guide to selecting the right one for you This article<\/a>\u00a0originally appeared on\u00a0<\/i>blog.accepted.com<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n Applying to a top b-school? The talented folks at Accepted have helped hundreds of applicants get accepted to their dream programs. Whether you are figuring out where to apply, writing your application essays, or prepping for your interviews, we are just a call (or click) away.<\/p>\n![\"Get](\"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Navigate_the_MBA_Maze.jpg\")
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\n\u2022 Kellogg MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines<\/a>
\n\u2022 Want a Kellogg MBA?<\/a>, a podcast episode<\/p>\n