January 2026 Message from the Dean

Dear Colleagues,

The big news of the month is that the University of Michigan has named our new incoming president. As I’m sure many of you have heard, the Board of Regents named Kent Syverud as the next president of the University of Michigan. He has deep connections to U-M (two graduate degrees, his wife earned her PhD here, they got married on campus, and he served on the law school faculty here), and very strong academic leadership experience, including 12 years as president and chancellor at Syracuse University, and two law school deanships. I have had the chance to meet him a couple of times since his appointment and have been impressed by his strong commitment to academic excellence, academic freedom, and students. He shared a story about living in the student dorms for a couple of months when he started at Syracuse to more deeply understand the student experience — what a great example of action-based learning! I look forward to more formally welcoming him when he begins his term this summer.

Switching gears a bit, over the break, Poets&Quants published an article spotlighting the 2026 resolutions of business school deans across the country. It was great to have Michigan Ross included; I was able to showcase some of our innovations, including our new LA campus, our AI leadership, and our ambitions to further personalize the MBA experience. This commitment to innovation and excellence is reflected in another recognition from Poets&Quants, which ranks Michigan Ross No. 3 on its Best Online MBA Programs of 2026 list. This ranking reflects our blend of real-world learning, flexibility, and outstanding career outcomes — and remarkably, it marks our fourth year in the top five out of only four years of eligibility.

Continuing on the theme of excellence and innovation, don’t forget to check out the monthly Insights & Innovation LinkedIn newsletter to read about our latest research and thought leadership from our esteemed faculty colleagues. Here’s a link to the January 2026 edition.

In other news, our LA location build-out continues on schedule, and we will hold our spring Ross School Advisory Board meeting there in March. We also held our first executive education program in LA this past week, which included a site visit to SpaceX.

In line with our commitment to innovation and AI leadership, I am pleased to share information on our 2026 AI Business Transformation Speaker Series, presented by the Handleman Lecture Series. This event series will explore how AI is transforming business models across a range of important industries, with two events taking place in February.

On Feb. 10, from 3-3:45 p.m. in Robertson Auditorium, Mary Barra, chair and CEO of General Motors Co., and Mike Hanley, GM’s vice president and chief information security officer, will discuss the impact of AI on the automotive industry and the mobility sector. If you would like to attend, please RSVP here.
On Feb. 23, Matt Baer, CEO of Stitch Fix, will join us to offer insights from the tech and retail sector. Check your inbox for more information and an RSVP link soon.

This past month, Michigan Ross also proudly co-sponsored the campus-wide MLK Symposium Keynote Lecture at Hill Auditorium, featuring Donzaleigh Abernathy and Derrick Johnson. If you missed it, a recording is available via the Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives. In addition to the campus-wide symposium, Ross hosted its own annual MLK Event yesterday in Tauber Colloquium. It was my pleasure to welcome Steve Pemberton, author, advocate, leader, and human capital strategist, as our guest speaker.

As always, I welcome the opportunity to connect with you directly during my office hours, which can be found on the dean’s office webpage. I will hold my February office hours in the Davidson Winter Garden on:

Feb. 11 from 4:15-5 p.m.
Feb. 18 from 4:15-5 p.m.

I also look forward to connecting with staff at our upcoming All Staff Meeting on Feb.18 at 2 p.m. in Tauber Colloquium.

I hope you are staying warm amid this cold snap. I recently brought home a new puppy who is still young enough that he needs to be taken out in the middle of the night — not great that this lines up with the bitter cold spell we are having! Thank you for everything you do to make Michigan Ross a community of excellence and innovation. I look forward to a semester filled with new opportunities and continued success.

Kind regards,

Sharon