Weatherhead dean to return to faculty full time in 2012

Weatherhead School of Management Dean N. Mohan Reddy announced today that he will return to the school’s faculty full time when his administrative term expires June 30, 2012.

“It has been a privilege to lead the school that has been my academic home for more than 25 years,” said Reddy, the Albert J. Weatherhead III Professor of Management. “I am grateful for the opportunity and now look forward to returning to the teaching and research that I have missed so much during the past few years.”

Reddy, whose scholarly interests include marketing and the diffusion of technology, became Weatherhead’s dean in December 2006 after serving for four months as interim dean. A five-time winner of the school’s teaching excellence award, he also received its David Bowers’ Alumni Service Award in 2001 and the Theodore M. Alfred Distinguished Service Award in 2003.

During Reddy’s tenure as dean, the school launched two primary strategic initiatives, “Manage by Designing” and “Sustainable Enterprise.” The former helped win Weatherhead recognition as one of BusinessWeek’s “30 Best Design Thinking Management Programs in the World,” while the latter earned mention in Forbes for having one of the top 10 innovative courses in sustainable value.

The school’s recent sustainability initiatives are supported through the Fowler Center for Sustainable Value, made possible by a $7.5 million commitment from Fairmount Minerals President and CEO Chuck Fowler and his wife, Char, in 2009. Chuck Fowler, a 1990 graduate of Weatherhead’s Executive MBA program, also led the creation of the Fairmount Minerals Chair in Social Entrepreneurship during Reddy’s term.

“Dean Reddy has been an outstanding advocate for the Weatherhead School of Management and for innovation in business education,” said Provost and Executive Vice President W.A. Baeslack III. “We are grateful for his leadership and wish him all the best in this next stage of his academic career.”

Baeslack said he will appoint a dean search committee including faculty, staff, students and alumni before the start of the fall semester. He noted that members of the school community already have demonstrated strong interest in working with the Office of the Provost to ensure the school’s positive momentum continues with its next leader.