Description
The Bank of America / Merrill Lynch Speaker Series is proud to welcome UNH's new President, James W. “Jim” Dean Jr. President Dean will talk about the role of a public research university in supporting the economy and how UNH is partnering with industry to meet workforce needs.
About President James W. ("Jim") Dean Jr.
James W. (“Jim”) Dean Jr. is the 20th president of the University of New Hampshire, elected unanimously by the University System of New Hampshire Board of Trustees to lead the state’s flagship public university, effective June 30, 2018.
Dean has more than 30 years of experience in public higher education scholarship, research, fundraising and leadership, most recently serving as executive vice chancellor and provost at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, where he was a professor of organizational behavior. He joined UNC in 1997 as an associate professor of management and was appointed dean of the Kenan-Flagler Business School in 2008 before becoming provost in 2013. At UNH, he is succeeding Mark W. Huddleston, who retired after serving 11 years as president.
As UNC provost, Dean directed innovative efforts to support academic achievement, enhance retention and graduation rates and reorganize resources to prepare students for success after college. He shared his deep, personal commitment to building a diverse and inclusive university culture throughout his tenure at UNC, from hiring seven new deans to working with student groups on a wide range of issues.
Dean believes that the nation’s public universities must rethink their efforts to better serve the public through teaching, research and engagement, and he adds that UNH is well-positioned to strengthen and even redefine its role as a leading public research university.
As dean of UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, he launched a highly-ranked online MBA program that increased revenue by millions of dollars, and his initiative to identify core values for the business school continues to shape the school 20 years later. As associate dean for executive education, Dean recruited new clients, including the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Air Force, and increased revenue by 60 percent.
At UNH, Dean leads a university that:
- Contributes $1.5 billion to New Hampshire’s economy each year
- Is ranked #1 for safest university town in the country
- Has research instruments on more than 20 satellites orbiting the Earth
- Has raised over $300 million in its largest capital campaign
- Is home to the nation’s leading research center on sexual assault prevention
- Is the nation’s highest rated university for sustainability
Dean and his wife, Jan, have two daughters and two grandchildren. He earned his Ph.D. and master’s degrees in organizational behavior from Carnegie Mellon University. He received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from The Catholic University of America.