Following a rigorous nationwide search, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) has appointed Michael J. Ginzberg, PhD, dean of the university's Robert A. Foisie School of Business.
Ginzberg comes to WPI following his previous post at American University, where he served as dean of the Kogod School of Business from 2011 to 2014; he was also a professor of technology management there. He will join WPI on August 1, 2015.
A widely respected scholar and academic leader, Ginzberg is experienced in driving the growth and reputation of major business schools in the United States and abroad. Prior to his role at American University, he was dean of the Sy Syms School of Business and associate provost at Yeshiva University. He had also served as dean and Chaplin Tyler Professor of Business at the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, University of Delaware, and on the business faculties of Case Western Reserve University, New York University, and Columbia University. He has taught at SDA Bocconi in Milan, Italy, the International Management Center in Budapest, Hungary, and the Rotterdam School of Management at Erasmus Universiteit in the Netherlands.
"Michael Ginzberg exemplifies the qualities that WPI is seeking for the next dean of the Foisie School of Business," said WPI President Laurie A. Leshin. "From the moment they set foot on the WPI campus, our students are focused on applying their knowledge and skills to help solve the great challenges facing our world. Michael Ginzberg is a globally-aware leader who understands the great promise of the Foisie School of Business to play a critical role in the future of our world-class technological university. I’m thrilled that he is joining the WPI community."
Ginzberg, who received his PhD in management from the Alfred P. Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has published numerous scholarly articles and book chapters in management and information systems. His research has focused on the management and use of information technology in organizations and the management of technical professionals. His current interests concern creating business value through investments in technology, the management of risk, and corporate governance. Ginzberg has published more than 45 articles and chapters and written or edited half a dozen books and monographs in the fields of management and information systems. He is a fellow of the Association for Information Systems.
In addition, Ginzberg has held leadership positions in national and international professional and academic organizations, including the International Conference on Information Systems, the Association for Information Systems, the Society for Information Management, and the Middle Atlantic Association of Colleges of Business Administration. He has served on the board of trustees of the International Management Center, Budapest, Hungary; the board of directors of Beta Alpha Psi, the international honorary society for financial information professionals; and as chairman of the board of trustees of the Sarajevo Graduate School of Business in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He has held numerous board positions with not-for-profit organizations, governmental agencies, and privately held corporations. He currently serves on the advisory boards of Kulper & Company and Quantum Leap Innovations Inc., and as an advisor to eHealth Ventures.
Ginzberg succeeds inaugural dean Mark Rice, who in 2010 led the elevation of WPI's former Department of Management to its current standing as a business school. In 2014 the school was named for Robert A. Foisie '56, whose long history of philanthropy amounts to more than $63 million and focuses primarily on undergraduate education. A first-generation college graduate and "self-made innovator and entrepreneur," Foisie is the university's largest single donor.
The school has been recognized for project-based education that integrates the theory and practice of management and prepares students to assume positions of leadership in an increasingly global business environment. WPI's part-time MBA program has consistently earned high rankings among national schools. In 2009, BusinessWeek ranked the part-time MBA program number one in the nation; in 2007 and 2012 it was ranked number one in the Northeast. Business 2.0 magazine has ranked the program ninth in the nation for offering students the "best career prospects." Entrepreneur.com ranked the school as a top-10 program with an emphasis on entrepreneurship. And The Princeton Review placed the WPI School of Business in the Top Five for Women in its 2011 "Best 300 Business Schools." The part-time MBA program is the school’s dominant program and has a large percentage of women faculty.
"The intersection of technology and management has been a key interest for me throughout my career," Ginzberg said. "Understanding this phenomenon is central to the continued progress of our economy and our society. I am thrilled to be joining an institution that shares this interest and can play a major role in building knowledge and application in this area."
