An award-winning scholar of supply chain and operations management will become the new dean of the Weatherhead School of Management (WSOM) Sept. 1.
Case Western Reserve President Barbara R. Snyder announced Wednesday that the Board of Trustees had approved the appointment of Manoj K. Malhotra, senior associate dean of graduate programs and former longtime chair of the department of Management Science at the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina (USC).
“After an extensive national search, Professor Malhotra emerged as our top candidate,” President Snyder said. “His demonstrated success in research, administration, teaching and industry engagement give him the knowledge and experience necessary to lead Weatherhead at this time in its history.”
Malhotra will succeed Rob Widing, who led the school for five years after also serving as dean of Australia’s Macquarie Graduate School of Management for nearly three years. Widing, whose academic expertise is in marketing, will join the faculty full-time after a one-year sabbatical.
Malhotra joined the faculty at the Moore School in 1990, after first earning his doctorate and two master’s degrees at The Ohio State University; he received his bachelor’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, where he studied metallurgical engineering.
In the succeeding years, Malhotra published or co-published more than 50 articles in peer-reviewed journals, two book chapters and four editions of an operations management textbook that spans more than 600 pages. In 2011, his article entitled “InterOrganizational System Usage and Supply Chain Integration: An Empirical Assessment,” won Decision Science Journal’s best paper award. He was elected Fellow of the Decision Sciences Institute in 2007, and currently serves as the President of the Production and Operations Management Society (POMS), a leading professional organization in the field.
Malhotra also has won multiple university awards for teaching, advising and research. In fact, in 2014 he won both the university’s Breakthrough Leadership in Research Award and the Carolina Trustee Professor Award; the latter is one of three given each year to faculty who demonstrate commitment to teaching excellence and a record of outstanding performance in research and in public-service activities.
Malhotra, who also is the Jeff B. Bates Professor at USC, became chair of the business school’s management science department in 2000, a position he held for more than 16 years. During his tenure, Malhotra founded undergraduate and graduate programs in Global Supply Chain and Operations Management that have gone on to attract great acclaim. In 2016, Gartner Inc., ranked the undergraduate program seventh in the nation for supply chain offerings, and the graduate program 15th.
In 2005, Malhotra founded USC’s Center for Global Supply Chain and Process Management, and has continued to direct its operations. Since its creation, the center has attracted roughly $4 million in industry support for scholarships, faculty research and center operations. The center’s corporate partners include such companies as BMW, Carolina Healthcare Systems, Coca-Cola Bottling Co., Delta Airlines, Johnson & Johnson and Siemens, among others.
“I feel deeply honored to serve as the next dean of the Weatherhead School of Management, and am committed to enabling the success of the School’s faculty, staff and students,” Malhotra said. “I look forward to engaging and working with the internal and external stakeholders of the School to foster a sense of community and enhance its reputation locally, nationally and globally.”
Jessica Berg, co-dean of the School of Law, chaired the WSOM dean search committee along with CNV Krishnan, a professor of Banking and Finance who also directs the school’s MSM in Finance program.
“I want to thank all of the members of the search committee for their dedication to this process,” said Provost W.A. “Bud” Baeslack III, “as well as the entire Weatherhead community for participating in finalist visits. I look forward to seeing the progress the school makes in the coming months and years.”