CU-Boulder launches national search for Leeds School of Business dean

Plan calls for hiring by January 2011

A national search for the next dean of the University of Colorado at Boulder Leeds School of Business has begun. CU-Boulder Interim Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Stein Sture announced the search Tuesday, Feb. 23.

Former Senior Associate Dean Manuel Laguna of the Leeds School of Business is serving as interim dean until a permanent hire is made for the position. On Nov. 1, he assumed the post formerly held by Dennis Ahlburg, who accepted the presidency of Trinity University in San Antonio.

"The Leeds School of Business is one of the most innovative schools of business in the nation," Sture said. "We are seeking visionary leadership to take this unique school to new levels of success, and to cement the key relationships that have been built with faculty, staff, students, alumni and donors."

Sture named CU-Boulder Vice Provost William Kaempfer chair of the 13-member search committee. The dean position will be advertised locally and nationally through May. Applications will be reviewed in the spring and summer, a short list will be presented to the provost by August, and the provost plans to invite finalists to visit campus in the fall. A dean is expected to be on board by January 2011.

The dean will serve as the chief academic and administrative and strategic officer for the Leeds School of Business. Leeds has an extensive history of enhancing the business community by attracting outstanding faculty who create new business knowledge through research; providing interns, student consulting teams and business graduates to the global business community; offering a two-year evening MBA program specifically designed for working professionals; establishing excellence in areas that guide the practice of business including entrepreneurship, real estate, social responsibility and sustainability; and educating managers and executives through executive education programs.

Besides Kaempfer, search committee members are: Chris Leach, professor, finance division; Phil Shane, professor, accounting division; Kai Larsen, associate professor, systems division; Page Moreau, associate professor, marketing division; Cathleen Burns, senior instructor, accounting division; Victor Fleischer, associate professor, CU Law School; Aswad Allen, director, Leeds School of Business Office of Diversity Affairs; Toni Blodgett, junior, accounting major; Aaron Schlagel, master of business administration candidate; Peter Burridge, president and CEO of Greenhouse Partners and member of the Leeds School of Business board; John S. Fischer, CEO of Breakthrough Energy LLC and member of the Leeds School of Business board; and Michael Leeds, president, FlightStar Inc. and member of the Leeds School of Business board.

For information about the dean search, including the job description, visit http://leeds.colorado.edu/dean_search/interior.aspx?id=10758.