Prof. Mark Nelson, accounting, was appointed the 12th dean of the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management Tuesday, according to a University press release. He will begin his five-year term on July 1.
Nelson will replace current dean Soumitra Dutta, who on June 30 will assume his role as the first dean of the College of Business as the school begins its first days of operation.
Nelson voiced his enthusiasm in contemplating how to enable the Johnson School and the College of Business to best “flourish.”
“We’re all in this together for the long term, and by supporting each other and collaborating on teaching and research, we can do more collectively than any of us could do on our own,” he said.
Nelson also called his position in the College of Business a “tremendous opportunity” to ensure that the newly merged school is not just a strong single entity, but a body that promotes the strengths of all of its constituent members.
“It’s an opportunity to facilitate integration and cooperation, to make sure that the College of Business is as special as the three schools are individually,” he said. “The CCB can help us offer more opportunities for our students while also helping us identify teaching arrangements that help attract and retain excellent faculty.”
While he said he expects to spend more time with deans of Dyson and SHA than Johnson leaders have in the past, in order to facilitate collaboration on a larger scale, Nelson maintained that the focal point will still be the excellence of the Johnson school itself.
“The absolute heart of the job is focusing on the school’s MBA programs, the research environment and our strong community, which has traditionally been a hallmark of a Johnson MBA,” Nelson said.
Provost Michael Kotlikoff commended the appointment, saying he is “extremely pleased and enthusiastic” about how Nelson’s robust experience will serve him as dean.
“Mark is an internationally recognized scholar and an award-winning teacher of Johnson MBA students,” he said. “The selection committee and I have been extraordinarily impressed by the depth, sophistication and comprehensiveness of his thinking regarding all aspects of the deanship, Johnson and the College of Business.”
Dutta also expressed support for Nelson’s qualifications, saying he is “ideally equipped” to lead the Johnson School at this “complicated and exciting time.”
“It is clear that he will contribute tremendously to the success of the College of Business,” Dutta said.
Nelson earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Iowa State University and a Master of Accounting degree and Ph.D. in accounting from Ohio State University. He joined the Johnson faculty in 1990 after serving four years on the Advisory Council of the Financial Accounting Standards Board and working for three terms as an area editor of the Accounting Review, according to the University.
Nelson teaches undergraduate courses at the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management as well as MBA courses at Johnson, according to the University. Nelson also served as an associate dean for academic affairs — during which time he managed the school’s tenure-track faculty and research.
Nelson has received awards from the American Accounting Association, the journal Auditing and the Johnson School, and his research on the psychological and economic influences on decision-making and accounting and trade in financial markets has been published in many scholarly journals, according to the University.