New Dean Announced
July 24, 2003
CHAPEL HILL - W.S. (Steve) Jones, an internationally recognized chief executive officer, is returning home to North Carolina and his alma mater after 14 years abroad to become dean of Kenan-Flagler Business School at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The appointment, approved today (July 24) by the UNC Board of Trustees, takes effect Aug. 1.
Jones brings to UNC international experience in developing strategy, leading change and building organizational capability in numerous industries and challenging circumstances, while delivering outstanding value to shareholders. He spent the past decade as CEO of Suncorp Metway Ltd., one of Australia's 25 largest companies, and as managing director of ANZ Banking Group N.Z. Ltd., one of New Zealand's top companies. He was a management consultant with McKinsey & Co., the worldwide strategy-consulting firm, for six years.
Jones was born and grew up in Elkin, N.C. He is a 1974 graduate of UNC, where he received a BA in economics and was a Morehead Scholar . In 1978, he earned his MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School.
"Steve Jones appreciates the power of a Carolina education to transform young lives," said Chancellor James Moeser. "He understands the needs and challenges of global businesses in ways that will help strengthen our overall international aspirations. Steve knows what industry leaders expect from graduates of top business schools like Kenan-Flagler. He cares passionately about serving his home state and the people of North Carolina. He will bring his international experience and perspective to bear in ways that contribute positively to North Carolina's economy and business community."
Jones' global career provides him with a rich store of lessons and frameworks to draw upon as he leads UNC Kenan-Flagler. Serving as dean is one way to repay the state of North Carolina for his UNC education and its impact on his life.
"In my professional life, the best thing that has happened to me by a wide margin was winning the Morehead and coming to UNC," Jones said. "It gave a boost to my confidence and opened my eyes to possibilities that would never have occurred to me. It stretched and challenged me - intellectually, culturally and personally.
"On returning to the U.S. after nearly 15 years abroad, I was not looking for another CEO position in the corporate world. To be dean of UNC Kenan-Flagler is an honor. My UNC experience had a profound impact on me and on my life. Now, I want to make a difference and a contribution. My goal is to lead UNC Kenan-Flagler to the next level of excellence. Accomplishing that will be my way of contributing to the School and the state. This is not a job. It is a labor of love."
"As our new dean, Steve Jones represents the best of many worlds," said Douglas A. Shackelford, UNC Kenan-Flagler's senior associate dean for academic affairs and the Meade H. Willis Distinguished Professor of Taxation and Accounting. "He brings the experiences and perspectives of having built a successful career while working on the other side of the world. He's eager to apply that same drive and dedication here at UNC, where being a student was a defining event in his life. His motivation to lead Kenan-Flagler is grounded in his sincere commitment to UNC and contributing to the state of North Carolina."
Jones was CEO of Suncorp in Brisbane, Queensland, from December 1996 to September 2002. Suncorp is Australia's sixth largest bank, second largest general insurer and its 18th largest funds manager. The group had assets of A$32 billion in fiscal year 2002, A$2 billion in insurance premiums, A$9 billion in funds under management and 8,000 staff. Its LJ Hooker subsidiary is the largest real estate agency franchiser in Australia, with 600 offices.
Suncorp was formed in 1996 when the Queensland state government sold Suncorp Insurance and the QIDC bank to Metway Bank to privatize its interests and thwart an out-of-state takeover bid for Metway. As its inaugural CEO, Jones had full responsibility for the integration and long-term strategy of the new group. Five-year shareholder returns ranked fifth worldwide in the Oliver Wyman Shareholder Performance Index of mid-cap financial services companies. Market cap grew from A$2.4 billion at the time of the merger to A$6.5 billion and made Suncorp one of Australia's 25 largest companies. It was named regional bank of the year in 1998, 1999 and 2001.
Prior to Suncorp, Jones was with ANZ, one of Australia's four major banks. He served ANZ over an eight-year period, first as a consultant and then as an executive in Melbourne, Australia, and in Wellington, New Zealand.
Jones first went to Australia when he was a management consultant with McKinsey & Company. He had joined McKinsey's Atlanta office in 1984, and transferred to Melbourne in 1988. He assisted clients to develop growth strategies, improve operations, build organizational capability and manage merger integration for clients in construction materials, chain drug stores, alcoholic beverages, electricity, textiles and banking. Jones was a member of McKinsey's practice development groups in both merger integration and managing major change.
His first job after graduating from UNC was with General Electric, where he worked in the Drive Systems division in Salem, Va. He also worked in two entrepreneurial companies as a principal earlier in his business career.
Jones received the Australian government's Centenary Medal for service to business and commerce through banking and finance in 2003. He received an honorary doctorate from the Queensland University of Technology for business leadership and service to the community in 2002.
He was named one of Australia's "Top 50" CEOs by The Bulletin magazine in November 2001, and as one of the "Top 30 True Leaders" in the corporate, public and not-for-profit sectors by the Australian Financial Review in August 2001. He was one of the top three CEOs cited for efforts to promote diversity and affirmative action as well as "the most consistent performer overall" in the Osborne Group's survey of 25 Australian financial services companies in November 2000.
Jones was active in philanthropic work for disadvantaged youth as a foundation sponsor of Youth Enterprise Trust in Australia and as a trustee of Project K, a program in New Zealand that helps young people build self-esteem and develop direction by teaching such life skills as goal-setting as well as promoting good health and education
Jones succeeds Robert S. Sullivan, who left to become the founding dean of the new Graduate Management School at the University of California, San Diego.
An international search was conducted and Jones was recommended to Provost Robert Shelton and Moeser by a search committee chaired by William McCoy of Franklin Street Partners, former interim UNC chancellor and a business school alumnus. Committee members included UNC Kenan-Flagler faculty, students, staff and alumni, as well as members of the University and business communities.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School is one of the oldest accredited business schools in the United States. UNC Kenan-Flagler's top-ranked programs for students, executives and companies include: the MBA Program, three Executive MBA Programs, Executive Education, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Master of Accounting and PhD programs. The School is known for the progressive ideas and excellent people skills of its graduates; a top research faculty that cares about great teaching that is practical and relevant; and its Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, a hub of collaboration for thought leaders in business, government and academia unique among top business schools. The School's latest innovative program, OneMBAŽ, establishes a new standard for global executive MBA education.
Download high resolution photographs: Steve Jones, Steve Jones with UNC Kenan-Flagler's McColl Building in the background.
UNC Kenan-Flagler media contact: Allison Adams, (919) 962-7235,
UNC News Services contact: Mike McFarland, (919) 962-8593,
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