Cornell University’s Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management has announced as its new dean Professor Soumitra Dutta, formerly INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France) business and technology professor and academic director of research centre for technology, innovation and new media. With this, Johnson becomes the first major business school in the United States to hire a dean from a business school outside the country. On July 1, 2012, Professor Dutta will assume duties as the 11th Dean of Johnson, following Dean L. Joseph Thomas.
Johnson at Cornell University offers a two-year and accelerated Masters of Business Administration program, as well as two executive MBA programs designed for mid-career professionals. Johnson also offers dual degree and certificate programs with law, industrial and labour relations, engineering, medicine, health administration and real estate.
Professor Dutta has served visiting professorships in Haas School at UC Berkeley, Oxford Internet Institute at University of Oxford, and Judge School at University of Cambridge in England, as well as advising several governments with their national information and innovation policies and has consulted with leading international organizations.
“Professor Dutta’s appointment is a natural fit with Johnson’s increasingly global outlook,” said Cornell President David J. Skorton. “He has expertise in new and emerging media, he has studied the conditions that promote innovation and he has extensive experience on the international stage.
Dutta’s experience and education in technology innovation will be of particular importance to Cornell as it prepares to launch its new applied sciences campus in New York City.
In an interview with The Sun on Monday, Dutta said he anticipates that the Johnson School will work on collaborative projects with Cornell’s new NYC campus. In this partnership, the business school will focus on computer science and information science. He also said he hoped that, as dean, he will be able to spread the Johnson School’s international impact through enhanced distance learning technology. He added he hopes to prepare students for an increasingly global business world.