After a nationwide search, UW-Madison has selected Michael Knetter to serve as the new School of Business Dean. Knetter is scheduled to formally take the position over on July 1, 2002.
The committee narrowed the field to a total of four candidates, including Knetter, Lawrence Benveniste of the University of Minnesota, Mark Zupan of the University of Arizona, and R.D. Nair, who has served as the interim dean since the former dean, Andrew Policano stepped down.
The final decision was left up to Chancellor Wiley, who chose Knetter.
“Michael’s character, vision and background are the right fit for the School of Business at this time.” Wiley said.
When Policano stepped down on Sept. 1, a search-and-screen-committee was appointed to assist in the selection of possible candidates for this job. The committee was chaired by professor James Johannes, the business school’s associate dean for undergraduate programs. The rest of the committee was made up of professors and associate professors, advisors, non-represented classified staff and students.
Knetter is a native of Wisconsin, growing up in Rhinelander and completing his undergraduate studies in economics and mathematics at UW-Eau Claire. He
completed his Ph.D in economics at Stanford University before taking a job at Dartmouth College, where he is currently an international economics professor and associate dean for the Amos Tuck School of Business.
Knetter was the senior staff economist for the President’s Council of Economic Advisors for both George Bush and Bill Clinton, and is a research associate for the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Policano will take a year’s sabbatical but plans to remain on the faculty of the school’s finance department.
“Dean Policano has fostered an entrepreneurial spirit in the school, establishing new opportunities for students and staff, developing new programs and overseeing new facilities,” Wiley said. “He is recognized as one of the most innovative business-school deans in the country, and we have clearly benefited from his extraordinary leadership and his dedication to UW-Madison.”
Policano had been the dean of the School of Business since 1991.
Knetter’s salary will be $245,000.
Currently, the Dean of the School of Business oversees approximately 100 faculty members, more than 2,000 students and an extensive education program that serves more than 15,000 clients a year.
