May 12, 2000

JUDY OLIAN NAMED DEAN OF SMEAL COLLEGE OF BUSINESS
University Park, Pa. – Penn State’s Board of Trustees today (May12) approved the appointment of Judy D. Olian, senior associate dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park and professor of management and organization, to be dean of the Mary Jean and Frank P. Smeal College of Business Administration, effective July 1.

"We are delighted that Dr. Olian will join Penn State to serve in this important leadership position," said Rodney A. Erickson, executive vice president and provost of the University. "Dr. Olian is a distinguished scholar and teacher in management and human resource strategy, and she has an outstanding reputation as an administrator."

Since 1995, Olian has led the development of the Smith School's initiatives to enhance academic excellence and national rankings, and to advance partnerships and build support for the School from businesses, alumni and international constituencies. She oversees the academic, administrative, and information technology strategies of the School, is closely involved in fundraising efforts, and is a central liaison with the university administration and other colleges at the University of Maryland. Dr. Olian joined the faculty at Maryland in 1979.

In 1991 Dr. Olian was an American Council on Education Fellow to the President of the University of Maryland, and the next year, was special assistant to the President and initiated the university's continuous improvement activities. Dr. Olian was also founder and director of the IBM-Total Quality Project at the University of Maryland. She led an interdisciplinary team in developing an innovative and award winning business-engineering undergraduate curriculum and research program, based on total quality concepts.

Olian has published widely in journals and books on human resource strategies, management in the information economy, and total quality systems, and has frequently been called upon to give keynote speeches and academic presentations in the United States and in numerous other countries. She has been an active consultant to major corporations and a participant in many executive development programs.

Dr. Olian is currently principal investigator of a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) project, "Accelerating the Diffusion of Netcentricity," a multi-year project investigating the technical, organizational, behavioral, and economic aspects of the netcentric revolution, and has ongoing partnerships with such companies as Sun Microsystems, IBM, Oracle and EDS.

She is a member of the Advisory Council of the Total Quality Forum for Higher Education, and has been a member of editorial boards including Academy of Management Review and the Journal of Quality Management. Dr. Olian has received several teaching awards including an Outstanding Teacher Award of the University of Maryland, the Maryland Higher Education Award for Curriculum Innovation, as well as the Distinguished Recognition Award for Service at the University of Maryland.

"There are many features that attract me to the Smeal College and the University," says Dr. Olian, "including first-rate and highly committed faculty in the College, the outstanding reputation of the University, the passion of Penn State alumni, and the exciting leadership vision and energy provided by President Spanier and Provost Erickson. It will be a privilege to join such a great institution."

Born and raised in Australia, Olian received a B.A. in psychology from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Contact: Christy Rambeau (814) 865-7517 or e-mail at