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Jones to Leave Deanship at Kenan-Flagler

Steve Jones ’74, dean of the Kenan-Flagler Business School, will step down next summer at the end of a five-year term.

“My reason for stepping down is simply to go back to my original plan and enjoy the flexibility of being fully engaged in a whole variety of areas but not full time on any one,” Jones said in a statement. “This school will remain my ‘first-among-equals,’ and I look forward to remaining on the faculty and contributing in fundraising, in the classroom and in new initiatives to give the school even greater reach and impact.”

Under Jones’ administration, 25 faculty were hired in the past two years and 40 percent of the faculty was replaced over the past four years. Since 2003, the school’s total endowment has increased 90 percent, to $150 million, and alumni contributions have added 13 endowed professorships. Fellowship funding has increased 37 percent, and physical updates to the school include the renovation of the McColl Building and the Rizzo Conference Center.

Externally, The Wall Street Journal now ranks the MBA program as sixth in the country, up from eighth, 10th and 11th in previous years.

“When I returned to the U.S. in 2003 after 15 years overseas and 30 years in business, my intent and hope were to spend my time on a whole range of activities — professional, community and personal — and teaching at Kenan-Flagler as an ‘executive-in-residence’ was at the top of my list,” Jones said. “I looked forward to being fully engaged on many fronts but not full time on any one.”

Until Jones departs from UNC, priorities such as the Carolina First Campaign, new mini-campaigns for the BSBA program and the Capital Markets lab, hiring new faculty and growing the school’s Leadership Initiative will be at the top of his list.


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