3 Finalists for UCI Graduate School of Management Dean

The search for a new dean of UC Irvine’s Graduate School of Management has been narrowed to three finalists.

They are David Blake, a professor of international business at Southern Methodist University’s Edwin L. Cox School of Business; Carol A. Scott, a professor of marketing at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management; and John W. Seybolt, dean of the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah.

The hunt was launched in December, shortly after Dennis Aigner announced that he would step down as dean this coming September.

The search committee included four UCI management school faculty members, one faculty member from another department, another UCI dean, a graduate management student and a few people from outside the university.

“They then spent the next several months scouring the countryside for possible high-quality applicants,” said UCI Executive Vice Chancellor Sidney H. Golub, who is responsible for hiring the new dean.

The committee first narrowed the field to six or seven candidates, then presented its recommendations on the final three to the administration. Golub said it wasn’t clear when a decision would be made, but it might run into next year before a new dean starts. It’s likely that an interim dean will be appointed in the meantime, he said.

Although the graduate management school is by no means the largest department on campus, the dean is considered an important, high-profile position.

“We ask an awful lot,” Golub said. “They need to be able to work with the faculty and develop the academic vision of the program, recruit very high-quality faculty, develop the internal workings of the program and interact with the community.”

Blake recently visited the campus for a final round of interviews with faculty, staff and students. The other candidates are due for similar visits in the next few weeks.

The final choice will likely come down to what each of the candidates asks for in terms of salary and support for programs, said a university source.

Even if one is currently the front-runner, “it may get turned upside down, just based upon what the person might want and the administration’s view of what’s needed,” the source said.

Aigner joined UCI in 1988 as professor of management and economics and dean. During his tenure, the graduate management school improved in various national rankings of business schools. U.S. News & World Report, in its 1997 rankings, named UCI’s GSM as 46th in the nation. It was the school’s first placement in the top 50 in the closely followed study, which focuses on the job performance of graduates.

Aigner plans to remain with the university, but might take a sabbatical to work on various projects, Golub said.