A peer-to-peer discussion with the Dean of Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois.

Show notes: On this episode of Deans Counsel, moderators Dave Ikenberry and Ken Kring speak with Jeff Brown, dean since 2015 and Dean and Josef and Margot Lakonishok Professor of Business at the Gies College of Business at University of Illinois - Urbana-Chammpaign. A professor in the department of Finance, Dean Brown holds a PhD in economics from MIT, a master’s of public policy from Harvard, and a bachelor’s in economics and political science from Miami (OH) University.

In this conversation, Jeff relates to Dave and Ken how becoming dean allowed him to make a long-held entrepreneurial dream real. In so doing, he learned a lot about:

• Exploiting a niche for those perceiving a decline in the MBA value proposition

• Anticipating in advance issues from scale

• Effective leadership approaches with faculty in large transformations

• Working with campus politics

• Business school rankings and the iMBA

Jeff Brown Bio:

Jeffrey Brown has served as the dean of Gies College of Business since 2015. A professor in the department of Finance, Dean Brown holds a PhD in economics from MIT, a master’s of public policy from Harvard, and a bachelor’s in economics and political science from Miami (OH) University. Brown joined the Illinois faculty in 2002 after three years as an assistant professor of public policy at Harvard. From 2001-2002, he served as senior economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers. His research focuses on the interaction of public and private insurance markets.