Ivey Business School professor Mark Vandenbosch has been named the school’s Acting Dean, effective July 1, Western Provost & Vice-President (Academic) Janice Deakin announced today.
Vandenbosch, the Kraft Professor of Marketing at Ivey and Associate Dean (Programs), will step into the role following the departure of Bob Kennedy, who accepted an appointment as Dean of the Business School at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
The Senior Policy and Operations Committee of Western’s Board of Governors approved the appointment, which runs through June 30, 2018.
Vandenbosch, who has also held visiting professorships at IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland and at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France, came to Ivey in 1991. His scholarship focuses on competitive strategy, product management and marketing research and his work has been published in journals including Marketing Science, Organizational Science, Information Systems Research, Journal of Retailing, and MIT Sloan Management Review, among others.
“I am delighted Professor Vandenbosch has agreed to take on this role. With the support of colleagues within Ivey and across campus, I am confident Mark will provide strong leadership during the interim period that we undertake the search for the next dean,” Deakin said.
Currently underway, the search process will be led by the Senate-appointed decanal selection committee that was recently constituted with representatives from both the Ivey and larger Western communities, including two representatives from the Ivey Advisory Board.
Since joining Ivey in 2013, Kennedy led several initiatives to maintain and strengthen Ivey’s position among Canada’s leading business schools, including a significant renewal of full-time faculty members, a focus on improving support for research within the school, and other strategies to increase Ivey’s global footprint and recognition.
“With the strength of Ivey’s programs and outstanding reputation for world-class teaching and research, Ivey is well-positioned for continued success on the national and global stage,” Deakin said.