Council also names three new member schools: Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, Imperial College Business School and Johns Hopkins University, Carey Business School
RESTON, Va. (June 23, 2016) – The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) welcomed a new chair and two additions to its board of directors at its annual business meeting in Washington, DC.
GMAC is a non-profit association of leading global business schools committed to advancing the art and science of admissions so that talent matched with aspiration can always benefit from the best business school education possible. Its board members are responsible for overseeing and defining the council's strategic goals in service of its mission.
Kenneth Freeman, dean and Allen Questrom professor at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business will chair the board. New board members are Sri Zaheer, dean and Elmer L. Andersen chair in Global Corporate Social Responsibility at University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management, and Eric Hirst, senior associate dean and professor at University of Texas at Austin, Red McCombs School of Business.
“GMAC’s board members have immense experience and are very committed to working with the organization,” said Sangeet Chowfla, president and CEO of GMAC. “We are lucky to have Ken as board chair. He is a seasoned leader with rich business and educational experience and will lead with the highest standards of corporate governance.”
“I am excited about the future of GMAC and graduate management education, as we continue to embrace the challenges and opportunities of a rapidly changing industry,” Freeman said.
“Given the growing global nature of our candidate base, Sri Zaheer brings a unique perspective with her past experience at one of India’s leading companies,” continued Chowfla. “We are also pleased to have Eric Hirst join. He has long been an active member of our committees and offers the perspective of a large public university, not currently found on our board.”
Their terms begin July 1. Board chairs have one-year terms, and members have four-year terms.
Kenneth Freeman joined Boston University as the Allen Questrom professor and dean of Questrom School of Business in 2010. He has more than 4 years of professional experience, including leadership roles at Corning Incorporated, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated and KKR, and has served on a number of private and public company boards. He is currently chairman of the board of trustees at Bucknell University.
Sri Zaheer (Phd., Sloan School, MIT) is dean of the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota where she also holds the Elmer L. Andersen chair in Global Corporate Social Responsibility. Zaheer’s research and teaching focus is on international business. Prior to academia, she worked for multinationals, such as Tata Consultancy Services and Sandoz (India) Ltd. She currently serves on the boards of Greater Twin Cities United Way and the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minn.
Eric D. Hirst has been the senior associate dean for academic affairs at the University of Texas at Austin since February 2016. In this role, he has COO responsibilities for the McCombs School of Business. For the prior 10 years, he led the strategy and operations of six Texas MBA programs in four locations (Austin, Dallas, Houston, and Mexico City) serving more than 1,200 MBA students. Hirst is also the King Ranch chair for Business Leadership and John Arch White professor of business at McCombs.
Re-elected to the board is Xiongwen Lu, professor and dean of Fudan University School of Management in China, who has been instrumental in GMAC’s efforts to globalize.
GMAC would like to thank outgoing chair, Ellen Glazerman, who brought a wealth of experience that spans both the private sector, as well as active engagement with business schools and associated industry. GMAC also acknowledges the following outgoing board members for their many contributions to the board: Ravi Kumar, Shaw chair professor and dean of Nanyang Technological University; Alfons Sauquet, global dean, ESADE Business School; and Sean Ferguson, associate dean of masters programs at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
In addition to welcoming these board members, GMAC announced three new member schools: Frankfurt School of Finance and Management in Germany, Imperial College Business School in the United Kingdom and Johns Hopkins University, Carey Business School in the United States.
About GMAC: The Graduate Management Admission Council® (GMAC®) is the nonprofit organization of 216 leading graduate business schools from around the world. GMAC is the owner of the Graduate Management Admission Test® (GMAT®), used by more than 6,100 graduate programs worldwide — along with other products designed to help students find, connect, and apply and gain admittance to business and management programs around the world. The Council is also the owner and administrator of the NMAT by GMAC™ exam, used for entrance into graduate business and management programs in India. GMAC is based in Reston, Va., with offices in London, New Delhi and Hong Kong. The GMAT exam — designed expressly for graduate business and management programs — is continuously available at 630 test centers in 115 countries. Additional information about the GMAT exam is posted on mba.com. For more information about GMAC, please visit gmac.com/newscenter.