On Monday, September 28, the University of Maryland, a GBSN Member School, announced their Robert H. Smith School of Business will be led by new dean, Prabhudev Konana, beginning January 2, 2021. He currently serves as Associate Dean of Instructional Innovation at the William H. Seay Centennial Professor of Information Management and as Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business.
Prior to serving 25 years as Associate Dean, he served as chair of the Department of Information, Risks, and Operations Management at the McCombs School of Business. He is distinguished by a variety of accomplishments including the creation of the M.S. in Business Analytics and M.S. in Technology & Management programs, reinvention of the advisory council, funding from business partners, funding of several research workshops and symposia; supporting visiting faculty for research collaboration, improving teaching standards in various programs, incentivizing faculty to offer specialized electives and focusing on recruiting high-energy and passionate staff (Maryland Today Staff, 2020).
Konana received his Bachelor of Technology degree from the University of Mysore in India, a Master of Business Administration degree, and Ph.D. from the University of Arizona, Tucson.
Dean Konana will lead the Smith School of Business through its current mission to “create knowledge, promote an inclusive learning environment that fosters intellectual discovery, and equip current and future leaders to assess complex problems and deliver innovative solutions” at the start of the new year. He recently stated, “I am thrilled to accept the role as Dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business…As business education is rapidly changing in the current social, political, technological, and market trends, I look forward to all that can be accomplished with the students, faculty and staff at the University of Maryland (University of Maryland, 2020).”