Mark Zupan, dean of the University of Arizona's Eller College of Business and Public Administration since 1997, has been named dean of the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration. He will assume the position on a full-time basis as of Jan. 1, but will start consulting frequently with the Simon School's associate deans starting this summer to ensure an effective transition.
Zupan succeeds Charles I. Plosser, who will step down on June 30, 2003, after having served as Simon dean since 1993.
Before his appointment as dean at Arizona, Zupan had taught at the University of Southern California's School of Business Administration (where he also served as associate dean of the master's programs). He holds his bachelor of arts degree from Harvard University and his Ph.D. in economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was a teaching fellow in Harvard's Department of Economics while studying toward his doctoral degree. He also has been a visiting faculty professor at the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College.
His scholarship has focused on industrial organization, regulation, and political economy. He is co-author, with E. K. Browning, of Microeconomic Theory and Applications (John Wiley and Sons) and, with A. M. Marino and T. W. Gilligan, of Microeconomic Cases and Applications (HarperCollins). He has served as co-editor of the journal Economic Inquiry, and is on the editorial boards of Public Choice, Journal of Business Economics, and Research in Law and Economics.
"The search committee was unequivocally enthusiastic about Mark Zupan's candidacy, as am I," said Provost Charles E. Phelps. "We believe that his academic career to date, most notably his work as dean at the University of Arizona, will serve him well in leading the Simon School. I should add that Mark emerged from a pool of candidates that was as deep and strong as any I've seen during a search here at the University.
"My sincere thanks to the diligent work of the search committee," Phelps added.
"It is a great honor to accept the offer to lead the Simon School," Zupan said. "I am excited about joining this esteemed institution and look forward to working with its faculty, staff, students, alums, and friends to further strengthen Simon's position as one of the finest business schools in the world."
"Mark Zupan's appointment is a vote of confidence in the future of the Simon School," said Plosser. "He is a respected scholar and an effective and exemplary leader who I am confident will work with Simon alumni, faculty, students, staff and corporate partners to move the School to an even higher level of excellence."
The Simon School is currently ranked among the leading graduate business schools in the world. Recognized for its scholarship in management, the School employs a distinctive approach to business education through its flexibility, innovation, youth, size, global outlook and vision. The School has approximately 1,020 full- and part-time students and 60 faculty members.