Dear Ross School student,
In review and discussion with the Board of Regents’ Personnel, Compensation and Governance Committee, and pending Regents’ approval, President Mary Sue Coleman and I are pleased to announce the appointment of Alison Davis-Blake as the next Edward J. Frey Dean at the Stephen M. Ross School Business, effective August 22, 2011. She will also be appointed Professor of Management and Organizations.
Since 2006 Dr. Davis-Blake has been dean of the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. The Carlson School has thrived under her leadership through major expansions in facilities and undergraduate enrollments, revamping of undergraduate and MBA curricula, development of innovative cross-college degree programs and notable success in fundraising and development activities.
In 1990, Dr. Davis-Blake joined the Graduate School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, later named the McCombs School of Business, as an assistant professor of management. She rose through the ranks to become chair of the Department of Management from 2002-2003 and senior associate dean for academic affairs from 2003-2006. In 1995 she was named the Eleanor T. Mosle Fellow and in 2004, the Eddy C. Scurlock Centennial Professor of Management. In 1995, she co-founded the executive master’s degree in human resource development leadership at the McCombs School and continued to co-direct it until 2001. Prior to her time at the University of Texas, Dr. Davis-Blake was an assistant professor of industrial administration at Carnegie Mellon University.
Dr. Davis-Blake received both a B.S. degree in economics, summa cum laude with highest honors, in 1979, and a M.O.B. degree in organizational behavior in 1982 from Brigham Young University. She received a Ph.D. degree in organizational behavior from Stanford University in 1986.
The focus of Alison Davis-Blake’s research, teaching and consulting is human resources strategy. She is an expert in outsourcing arrangements and organizational employment practices such as the use of temporary and contract workers and the design of organizational salary structures. Her professional service includes editorial positions with both the Academy of Management Review and Administrative Science Quarterly.
The Ross School of Business is a source of great pride for the University of Michigan. With the recent Ross naming gift the School has been transformed to a new level under the leadership of Dean Bob Dolan. The world-class facilities provide state of the art classrooms and meeting spaces for its excellent faculty and students. The Ross School’s distinctive action-based learning approach to the MBA program serves as a model for other top business schools.
Dr. Davis-Blake brings to the University of Michigan’s Ross School the experience and intellect to lead the School’s community to a shared vision building on the School’s success. Her passion will help steer faculty, students, and staff along their charted course to achieving that vision.
President Coleman and I are extremely pleased that Alison Davis-Blake is assuming the helm of the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at this time of dramatic change within business education and practice. We are confident that she will provide outstanding leadership for the Ross School, increasing its international presence as well as delivering innovative education for our graduates who will work in a global economy. We expect she will build on the School’s reputation of excellence to enhance its connections within the University and the larger community.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to Gerald F. Davis, who chaired the search advisory committee, and to the committee members for their outstanding service.
For those of you who wish to congratulate Dr. Davis-Blake, her email address is
[email protected]. There will also be an opportunity for faculty, staff and students to meet Dr. Davis-Blake at a reception on Tuesday, February 15 from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. in the Davidson Winter Garden. If you need any additional information, please let me know.
Yours truly,
Phil Hanlon
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
14 Feb 2011, 21:52
