June 2026 Message from the Dean
Dear Colleagues,
Summer is officially here, and I hope you have been enjoying summer in Michigan from the Top of the Park festivities this month to opportunities to spend some time lakeside at many places across the state. Though most students are off campus, there is still so much going on at Ross!
First, as I mentioned in an email at the end of May, I would like to recognize several colleagues who are taking on new leadership roles this year. Beginning July 1, Uday Rajan will join the leadership team as senior associate dean for faculty and research. Meanwhile, Lori Rogala has already begun her term as the Thomas C. Jones Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education. I would also like to congratulate the three new Executive Committee members who were recently elected to begin two-year terms this year: Sarah Miller, Scott Page, and Gwen Yu.
As we welcome these colleagues into their new roles, I want to thank Roman Kapuscinski for his exceptional service as senior associate dean for faculty and research, as well as Greg Miller, Uday Rajan, and David Wooten for their dedicated service on the Executive Committee as they roll out of these positions.
In addition to these leadership updates, it is my pleasure to share our faculty promotions for the year. Please join me in congratulating Justin Frake (promoted to associate professor of strategy), Samantha Keppler (promoted to associate professor of technology and operations), Sarah Miller (promoted to professor of business economics and public policy), James Omartian (promoted to associate professor of accounting), and Nirupama Rao (promoted to associate professor of business economics and public policy). These promotions reflect meaningful contributions to scholarship, teaching, and the broader Ross community.
Switching gears, I recently traveled to the U-M Pan-Asia conference, where U-M alumni from across Asia come together each year to hear about new ideas coming out of U-M and our alumni, celebrate each other’s successes, and to stay connected with one another. I moderated a panel on leadership with distinguished alumni Edwin Wong, BBA ’91, Shiro Yahara, MBA ’93, and Melvyn Yao, BBA ’00. Ross was very well represented – more than 100 attendees joined the discussion. Afterward, a lively reception and dinner brought together more than 150 Ross alumni and friends from across Asia, including top executives from Ares, Pioneer, Mazda and YouTube, as well as former government officials. It was a powerful reminder of how the Ross network impacts every corner of the world.
We also continue to advance our initiatives related to AI. Consistent with our philosophy related to AI in the classroom and external-facing web resources (AI@Michigan Ross) which we created together about 18 months ago, across Ross we aim to understand how AI is transforming business models and to equip leaders to navigate these changes productively, innovatively and responsibly. Our AI efforts are geared toward generating insights, tools, and learning experiences that ensure that our students, graduates, and executives can lead businesses not only to adopt AI effectively, but also to innovate in developing new models to create and capture value and lead in an AI-enabled future. Rigorous academic research is a critical part of generating these insights as AI continues to evolve. Our work in this area falls into key areas related to: teaching and learning innovations; AI business model transformation thought leadership; research and knowledge creation; executive and industry engagement; and internal operations and processes. Related to these areas, our MBA concentration in AI has been very popular, and we continue to build out student-facing courses, co-curricular activities, and career development activities across our programs. Regular faculty lunches over the past academic year have been key in sharing ideas on how AI can be harnessed in the classroom and in areas related to research. Our business transformations speaker series has also been very well received with Jamie Dimon (JP Morgan Chase CEO) and Rich Lesser (BGC Global Chair) coming out this fall, following in the footsteps of Mary Barra (GM CEO) and Matt Baer (Stitchfix CEO) who were out last semester. Our executive education team has also created new offerings in this space, and many of our faculty are working on innovative research, grants, and corporate partnerships to generate foundational insights related to AI. And we continue to incorporate AI thoughtfully into our operations and processes. Our IT team did an outstanding job creating an internal website (Ross AI Services) highlighting resources available to our Ross community to help navigate the changing AI landscape. There has been tremendous engagement across our faculty and staff in these efforts. I can’t thank all of you enough for your creativity, curiosity, and energy in exploring this very fundamental technological change. I look forward to continuing to expand our knowledge, skills, offerings and judgement associated with the role of AI in the future of business.
Looking ahead, I am also pleased to share that on July 29 and 30, we will host faculty and staff engagement sessions focused on the ongoing MBA Relook — our effort to reevaluate the Full-Time MBA curriculum and experience to strengthen how our Ross MBA Program prepares our graduates to lead the future of business. The MBA experience touches many parts of our school — from teaching and student support to admissions, career development, alumni engagement, operations, marketing and communications, and our broader reputation as a business school. For that reason, all of your perspectives and ideas from across the Ross community are critically important. The summer sessions will focus on our current efforts to create a short, intensive co-curricular activity in the first semester of the MBA that will help students make the most of their MBA experience, and at the same time have a career development focus to prepare them for the very competitive MBA job market. A special thanks to area chairs, student leaders, representatives from our career team, and other Ross leaders who participated in the Deloitte ideation session to help kick off this process. The follow-up on conversations with area chairs and some of our Centers and Institutes were also very helpful. We look forward to gathering your additional insights as this takes shape. These efforts are a complement to the other elements of the Relook which involve updates to the core, electives, structure, and initiatives aimed at increasing engagement in the student culture. Your perspective matters, and I hope you will join us in one of these sessions. Please watch your email for more information and an invitation soon.
Speaking of future leaders, you may have noticed a number of young student faces at Ross recently. Over the past month, our Office of Undergraduate Programs has welcomed 190 high school students to campus through the Summer Business Academy. This year’s expanded programming includes two cohorts of the 10-day SBA program, as well as a pilot of the new SBA Data Driven Decision Lab, a five-day intensive program. These experiences introduce students to foundational business concepts and offer a sneak peek into what it would be like to be a Ross student. Many thanks to the faculty and staff who represent our school and help inspire the next generation of business leaders.
I also want to share a fun piece of Ross history from Professor Emeritus George Siedel, whose article recently appeared in The University Record. Drawing on his work documenting the Michigan Ross history, George tells the story of Michigan Ross students who traveled to Washington, D.C., and unexpectedly found themselves in the company of royalty. It is an entertaining and meaningful reminder of the remarkable experiences and people that have shaped our school over time. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to read it.
As always, I welcome the opportunity to connect with faculty and staff during my upcoming office hours, which are listed on the dean’s office webpage. My next office hours will be held on July 1 and 8 from 4:15-5 p.m. in the Davidson Winter Garden. I will also be offering virtual office hours via Zoom on July 29 from 4:15-5 p.m.
It was great so many of you could attend the first summer gathering of the season yesterday. Our summer gatherings are some of my favorite events, offering a chance to unwind, enjoy light refreshments, and connect with colleagues from across the school. We will host two additional summer gatherings on July 14 and Aug. 20. I hope to see you there!
Kind regards,
Sharon
