As the first semester of Jeffrey Garten’s last year as dean of the Yale School of Management draws to a close, the committee chosen to find his replacement is hard at work, committee chairwoman Sharon Oster said.
While the seven-member committee chosen to search for the new dean is still considering various possibilities, Oster said the search is running right on schedule and they should have a list of potential candidates for Yale President Richard Levin to review sometime in the near future.
The choice for dean should be announced sometime next spring, at some point before June 1, when Garten will officially step down, Oster said.
“We want someone who can lead the faculty and students, who understands our vision to educate leaders for business and society, and who appreciates the academic endeavor,” Oster said.
The search committee is considering potential candidates from both outside and within the business school, Oster said.
Jonathon Ingersoll, another SOM professor on the search committee, said he could not comment on whether the committee was leaning more towards an outside candidate or a current faculty member.
During the last search for an SOM dean, which took some 29 months, Levin tapped a candidate outside of the University — Garten left his position at the U.S. Commerce Department to assume the deanship.
Levin said this time the search is also nationwide and there are currently a “number of people” they are considering.
“The search committee has been interviewing candidates in narrowing the field,” he said. “I certainly wouldn’t expect any conclusions until — sometime between January and May of next year.”
SOM professor Garry Brewer said from his perspective this search the committee cannot leave “any stone unturned,” and should look for candidates from all reaches.
“I am sure that the committee is looking at all the possibilities,” he said. “They are probably looking at faculty members, graduates, people who have nothing to do with Yale, like the current dean, who has done a good job.”
There is not a general, unified faculty consensus on the characteristics needed for the next dean, Brewer said. SOM professor Matthew Spiegel said there is never any set pattern to what makes a successful dean that can be adopted by the search committee.
“I have seen deans who are good at some things and bad at others and botch up everything as a result,” Spiegel said.
SOM professor Jonathon Feinstein said the dean must be able to interact with both SOM students and those at Yale College.
“We need someone to provide leadership for the school and help us to become a premier management institution as we hope and intend to become,” Feinstein said.
Spiegel said the dean must be well-rounded if he wants to have a successful career, adding that the dean must also be especially effective in dealing with the developing relationships with the central campus, alumni and students.
Brewer said it is most important for the new dean to be effective at developing the school’s funds, and the candidate should be a skilled fundraiser.
“I think it is pretty clear that we need a dean right now who is able to be a good outside representative and who is able to raise a lot of money for the school,” Brewer said. “It is time to put a lot of money in the bank to ensure a healthy place in the future. The dean doesn’t have to be a scholar, but he does have to be able to raise a lot of money.”
Several students said they were so pleased with the current dean that all they are looking for in a new dean is someone with similar characteristics.
“The new dean should be someone who has a vision that matches our vision and is willing to listen to us,” Reetika Motwane SOM ’06 said. “We need someone who will take us to new heights.”