Category Archives: Kellogg

In an in-depth interview published by the Financial Times recently, new Kellogg School of Management Dean Sally Blount shared some of her thinking regarding what’s next for the school. Now that she’s more than 100 days into her job (a period of learning and listening that she chronicled on her own blog), Dean Blount is ready to roll up her sleeves and make her mark on the school.

While it sounds like she’s treading somewhat carefully, it also is clear that Blount is not afraid to shake things up. When asked about Kellogg’s current way of expanding its footprint in new markets, which relies heavily on partnerships with institutions in those countries, Blount described the approach as “a great late 20th century strategy.” But, now things have changed, and she is considering all sorts of new options for how to expand Kellogg’s global footprint, including possibly building Kellogg-run schools in other parts of the world.

Perhaps Blount’s most interesting comment had to do with the school’s one-year MBA program, which is perhaps the best known one-year program among top U.S. business schools. Noting the importance for Kellogg to raise its global profile and the popularity of the one-year program among international students (56% of one-year students come from outside the U.S.), Blount suggests that the traditional two-year program will shrink over time while the school enrolls more students in its one-year program. And, as Kellogg enters or expands in new markets, it is likely that the one-year program, not the traditional two-year MBA, will lead the way.

Some Kellogg students alumni may raise their eyebrows at Blount’s comment that the school has cut down the size of its planned new building in Evanston in favor of investing more in its second U.S. campus, in Miami. One only hopes that the cutbacks for the new Evanston building are not so significant that it will wipe out most of the benefit of the new building to begin with. The school’s current quarters are somewhat dated and cramped (especially given Kellogg’s emphasis on team-based work, which necessitates a lot of open space and meeting rooms for those teams), and hopefully this will finally be addressed with the new building, which is still at least a few years away.

Finally, Dean Blount made some interest comments about being open to the idea of using online learning tools to cut down costs. “Basic courses will go electronic,” she says, again making some wonder if this is really what’s best for the students or if it’s a matter of cost savings coming before curriculum development. However, if Kellogg can strike the right balance and free up students to get more quality face time with professors in classes where such a lecture style makes the most impact, it could take the lead in an area that no school administrator has fully figure out yet.

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According to a news release put out by Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, Sally Blount, the dean of the undergraduate college and vice dean of the Stern School of Business at New York University, has just been named dean of the school, effective this coming July.

Blount, who is currently the Abraham L. Gitlow Professor of Management and Organizations at NYU Stern, is an expert in the fields of negotiation and behavioral decision making and has extensive international experience in higher education. In 2007 she was appointed by NYU’s president and provost as their special advisor for global academic integration.

In this morning’s news release, Northwestern Provost Daniel I. Linzer said:

Dean Blount brings a remarkable combination of strong academic achievement and proven administrative experience at both the business school and university levels. She is someone who has a demonstrable record as both a scholar and as a leader in the field of global business education. We are very excited to welcome her back to Kellogg and Northwestern.

This is a return trip to Kellogg for Blount, who earned her PhD in management and organizations in 1992 after earning a joint bachelor’s degree from Princeton University’s engineering and Woodrow Wilson schools in 1983. After earning her PhD, Blount taught for nearly a decade at Chicago Booth (back when it was called Chicago GSB), where she she consistently earned high teaching marks from MBA and executive education students.

Today’s Financial Times led with this headline: “Kellogg Appoints Female Dean,” which unfortunately downplays all that she’s accomplished but nonetheless points out just how rare is its for a woman to lead a business school. (Judy Olia at UCLA Anderson and Sharon Oster at Yale are the two other examples of women leading top-ranked MBA programs. Former Chicago Booth dean Edward Snyder will take over for Oster next year.)

We’re glad that Kellogg now has its future leadership picture sorted out. Hopefully now the school can forge ahead with is plans for a new building and continued international expansion.

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