Board endorses Thomas as next dean of Penn State's Smeal College of Business

James B. Thomas, dean of the College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) at Penn State since its creation in 1999, will return to his roots at the University through his appointment as the next dean of the Smeal College of Business.

Thomas, who had planned to return to the faculty after announcing his resignation as IST dean effective June 30, 2006, will assume his new deanship on July 1. He will replace Judy Olian, who departed on Jan. 1 to become dean of UCLA's Anderson School of Management.

The appointment was approved today (March 17) by Penn State's Board of Trustees at its regular meeting in Pittsburgh, Pa.

"Jim Thomas excelled at the lofty challenge of building and leading a unique academic college from the ground up," said Penn State President Graham B. Spanier. "His leadership has helped make the College of Information Sciences and Technology a model program nationally. I have every confidence in Jim's ability to take The Smeal College of Business and its highly regarded programs to even greater heights. We're fortunate to benefit his continued academic and administrative leadership for Penn State."

"I'm honored to be able to serve Penn State in another administrative capacity," said Thomas. "How exciting to be able to come back to Smeal and to work with such a terrific community as the college continues to grow as a leader in business education and research for a global, digital community."

A specialist in strategic management, organizational decision-making, and information technology, Thomas had previously served on Smeal's faculty for 12 years between 1987 and 1999, culminating in appointments as senior associate dean and professor of management and organization.

He will return to a college that has seen substantial enhancements in its undergraduate, MBA and Ph.D. programs. The latest industry resources and world-class research centers provide Smeal students with an education that equips them to confront the challenges and opportunities of today's business world, all housed under one roof - a new 210,000-square foot business building, the largest academic facility at Penn State.

Today, The Smeal College of Business boasts a simulated Trading Room, one of only a few such technologically advanced learning laboratories in the nation, an e-Incubator Lab, an Auctions Market Lab and the Philadelphia-based Executive MBA program. Last year, the college launched the Nittany Lion Fund LLC, a student-managed investment fund in which investors have placed more than $2.5 million under the fund's management.

Under Thomas' leadership of the College of Information Sciences and Technology, the college grew from a full-time faculty of five in 1999 to almost 40 in 2005 at University Park. In addition there are approximately 70 faculty across the 18 Commonwealth Campuses offering programs in IST.

The number of undergraduate students at IST has gone from 100 in 1999 to almost 800 today at University Park, with an additional 1,200 studying at other campus locations. There are also 80 graduate students in the University Park-based masters and Ph.D. programs. During Thomas' tenure, IST raised more than $20 million from private donors, corporations, and foundations, and has seen research funding grow to a cumulative total of almost $32 million. In January 2004, the University celebrated the opening of the 199,000-square-foot IST Building, which has become a landmark facility for the University Park campus.

Thomas is a Penn State alumnus with a bachelor's degree in political science. He has a masters degree in political science from Florida State University and a Ph.D. in strategic management from the University of Texas at Austin.

He is the author or co-author more than 100 articles, book chapters, reviews and numerous presentations. This work represents two major themes: (1) relationships between organization performance and the strategic alignment of organizational vision, information technology strategy, and infrastructure, and (2) knowledge management associated with top management team decision-making including the development of IT-related competencies. He has been a consultant with numerous companies on the issues associated with alignment and has made countless presentations on information sciences education before scholarly, industry, and government groups including the U.S. Congress.

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Web page last modified April 5, 2013