SOM Dean Transition & Search

When Scott D. Johnson, Ph.D., began his appointment as dean of the School of Management in July of 2013, he created a long list of goals that included, among other items, gaining more input from community members and building the SOM brand. He spent the next eight years accomplishing these tasks and building valuable relationships along the way.

“There are many people I want to thank for making my School of Management deanship a rewarding and gratifying experience,” said Johnson. “Yes, there are broad groups of people such as our students, our faculty, our alumni, the business advisory board, and my fellow deans and colleagues across the university. However, within each group are the individuals who were a joy to know and who contributed greatly to the success of the School of Management. I cannot name everyone, but you know who you are. I want to say thank you for your generosity, collegiality, and support.”

During his time as dean, Scott D. Johnson, Ph.D., enriched the experiences of students and faculty and established valuable relationships between SOM and donors and business/community partners.

Although he stepped down from his role as dean this past April, Johnson plans to continue the work he started in SOM and looks forward to his new focus on teaching.

In his time as dean, Johnson oversaw the conception of two new undergraduate majors, a new graduate program, and formalized two distinct departments within the School. Generous external financial support helped create an endowed professorship, fund many new student scholarships, and support faculty research. Since SOM had strategically enhanced online offerings well before the pandemic, there was a relatively smooth transition to online learning. Social media communication became a priority. New international programs were developed in Taiwan, China, Belgium, and Slovenia. Enhanced travel funding and annual excellence awards for faculty and staff recognized and rewarded fine teaching, research, and service. Many of SOM’s diverse student organizations competed nationally and won recognition for their work.

“While we’ve accomplished so much these past few years, I am especially proud of our outstanding faculty for their fine research and teaching,” said Johnson. “The School of Management has been consistently recognized over the years as a top business school by Business Week, Princeton Review, CEO Magazine, and U.S. News and World Report. Faculty are the catalyst behind such rankings which in turn positively influences the success of our students and enhances the broader reputation for the University of Michigan-Flint.” Previously serving as associate dean, Yener Kandogan, Ph.D., professor of international business, will fill the position of interim dean until January 1, 2022. Kandogan received his Ph.D. in economics (international) from the University of Michigan in 2001. His areas of expertise include international alliances, free trade agreements, international assignment selection, network analysis of trade, immigration and trade, political economy and trade, and role of culture/language on trade. He has more than 30 academic publications in various international business and economics journals and is also a faculty associate at the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies of the University of Michigan.

Yener Kandogan, Ph.D., will serve as interim dean of SOM through January 1, 2022.

“Faculty enjoyed Scott’s strong support for their efforts in research and teaching effectiveness,” said Kandogan. “I also enjoyed his support as the associate dean for the last eight years and learned a great deal from him.”

Currently SOM is undergoing a national search to fill the dean position. The Search Advisory Committee began reviewing candidates over the summer and will continue until the position is filled.