SOM taps outgoing Chicago dean

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Edward A. Snyder, currently the dean of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, will become the next dean of the Yale School of Management starting in July 2011, University President Richard Levin announced today.

Snyder, who Levin said "is widely regarded as the most successful business school dean in the nation," joins SOM at pivotal moment in its three-decade history, with the school planning a glitzy new campus, transforming its curriculum and vying to boost its reputation as a leading business school.

"Ted is not coming here to transform SOM into Chicago; he was attracted by exactly what we all see here," Levin said in his e-mail to the SOM community. "Having made one institution greater, he is inspired by the opportunity to raise SOM to the top tier of business schools globally."

At Chicago, where Snyder has served as Dean since 2001, he doubled the school's endowment, as well as its number of endowed professorships; he also more than tripled the amount of scholarship assistance to MBA students, oversaw the school's move to a new Hyde Park campus and established a new campus in London. Snyder announced last fall that he would step down this coming summer.

"I am tremendously excited and look forward to joining the Yale School of Management," Snyder said in a statement. "The school’s deeply held values, its broad focus and connection to the rest of the University, its outstanding people, and its commitment to innovation all position the school to play an increasingly influential and preeminent role in the years ahead."

Snyder — who lists among his research interests industrial organization, antitrust economics, law and economics, and financial institutions — will take a year's leave before starting work at SOM. In the meantime, Sharon Oster, who stepped in as dean following Joel Podolny's abrupt resignation in October 2008, will continue in that role.

Snyder will arrive on campus Thursday to introduce himself to SOM students and faculty.

Levin's message also noted that the preparations are under way to start construction on the new SOM campus, designed by Lord Norman Foster ARC ’62, this summer. Levin is continuing to fundraise aggressively for the project, amid a general freeze on campus construction, and SOM recently netted its largest alumni contribution to date.

Correction: Jan. 20, 2010

An earlier version of this article misidentified the position of Sharon Oster; she is dean of the School of Management, not interim dean.