In the last year, it’s been my honor to preside as we celebrate this major milestone, the centennial of the A. B. Freeman School of Business. We kicked off the festivities last fall with a party on campus for students, and we celebrated throughout the year with centennial themed activities and a special website dedicated to Freeman School history.
The year 2014 will mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the A. B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University. I am pleased to announce that we will be honoring this historic milestone during the 2013–2014 academic year with a host of special events and activities to highlight our past, celebrate our present and preview our very bright future.
Earlier this summer, I celebrated my one-year anniversary as dean of the A. B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University, and what an incredible year it has been. We’ve hosted prestigious speakers and presented terrific events. We’ve signed agreements with partner institutions to bring outstanding new students to the Freeman School. And our programs have continued to enjoy positive and even top recognitions from leading national and international publications.
Since my arrival on campus, I have been meeting with faculty and the Business School Council to develop in collaboration a new strategic plan for the school, one that leverages our existing strengths while addressing the rapidly evolving landscape of management education. While this plan will comprise initiatives spanning virtually every facet of the school, our ultimate goal can be summed up rather simply: to make Freeman a “school of choice.”
As I sit here in my office preparing for my final days as dean, a number of thoughts cross my mind. First and foremost, I’m struck by the realization that the job I’ve done for the last six years was not at all the job I thought I’d be doing back in 2005 when Scott Cowen asked me to become dean of the business school.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been meeting with the candidates to take over the dean’s job when I step down in June, and in the course of these discussions, I’ve had the chance to reflect on what we’ve accomplished over the last five years.
