James W. Dean Jr. is the dean of UNC Kenan-Flagler. He also is a professor of organizational behavior and a Sarah Graham Kenan Distinguished Scholar.

Leadership, organizational change, strategic decision making, international management, and organizational performance improvement are the focus of his research, teaching and consulting.

Dr. Dean served in the top academic position, senior associate dean for academic affairs, at UNC Kenan-Flagler from July 1, 2007-July 31, 2008. He served as associate dean of Executive Development from July 1, 2002-June 30, 2007, and associate dean of the MBA Program from 1998-2002.

As associate dean for Executive Development, he increased the number and global reach of UNC’s non-degree programs, which are ranked among the world’s best. During his tenure, revenues for the programs increased by nearly 60 percent. UNC Kenan-Flagler is especially well known for its custom-designed programs for such organizations as ExxonMobil, the United States Navy, Duke Energy, Cisco and Nucor.

As associate dean of the MBA Program, Dr. Dean led an innovative re-design of the curriculum, created corporate advisory boards and developed a strong team of professionals to guide admissions, student services and career services. As a result, the quality of the MBA class, the curriculum and the quality and number of companies recruiting rose significantly.

He has participated in research, teaching and/or consulting projects with many companies, including ALCOA, Boeing, Corning, DuPont, ExxonMobil, GE, Honeywell and the U.S. Navy.

Dr. Dean has published his research in many of the top academic and business journals, including the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Harvard Business Review, Organization Science and Strategic Management Journal.

He served as program director of the National Science Foundation research program, Transformations to Quality Organizations, which was jointly sponsored by the government and the private sector. He served as an examiner for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for six years.

He earned his PhD and master’s degrees in organizational behavior from Carnegie Mellon University. He earned his BA from The Catholic University.