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Jain New Dean of Kellogg Grad School

Som Chivukula

As a business school, the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University is known worldwide for its marketing and finance curriculum.

Now, a marketing professor of Indian origin will fill in one of the most prestigious positions in the school.

Dipak C Jain, the Sandy and Morton Goldman professor of entrepreneurial studies and professor of marketing, was named the school's new dean, effective July 1.

"This is actually a great honor and a major responsibility," an elated Jain, who is associate dean for academic affairs at Kellogg, told rediff.com. "Donald Jacobs (the prior dean) has been here for 26 years and for anyone to come in and step into his shoes, it won't be easy."

Jain, 43, has been associate dean since 1996. He joined Kellogg in 1986 as an assistant professor and has been the Sandy and Morton Goldman Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies and professor of marketing since 1994.

Jain credits outgoing dean Jacobs for the school's success. Kellogg has been consistently ranked in the top 10 for a number of years. US News and World Report ranked it as the third best business school for 2002, just behind Stanford and Harvard.

"Dean Jacobs' presence has made this school great," Jain said. "The biggest asset I have here is the Kellogg culture. There's a great staff, great alumni, administration and corporate sponsors."

Jain has taught courses in strategic marketing research, new products and services and quantitative marketing models. He is known worldwide as a prolific scholar and has also written numerous articles in academic journals.

"We had an extremely strong field of candidates for this position as the result of an exhaustive national search and Dipak Jain was the most outstanding of that group," Provost Lawrence Dumas said in a statement.

"The combination of his breadth of experience, his exceptional academic achievements and his strong management skills will enable Kellogg to continue its leadership in graduate business education." The Chicago Tribune reported that Jain was well-liked internally and was a top contender from the beginning. A list of 120 names was filtered down to Jain and an outsider. Last fall, Jacobs announced he would step down as dean and return to the faculty.

Jain says he is ready for the challenge.

"I learned a lot working under Dean Jacobs for five years," he said. "I think it's going to be challenging and we can do things better than what we are already doing.

"We don't need to make radical changes," he continued. "I believe in a culture of gradual change, being innovative in introducing new programs that will be in line with corporate demand."

Jain has also served as a visiting professor at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Nijenrode University, Koblenz and IIT Delhi, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Tel Aviv University. He has been instrumental in the development of the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad. Jain, along with Jacobs, has been involved in all academic aspects of the school since the idea for the school was conceived by Rajat Gupta, managing director of McKinsey & Co.

Jain received his undergraduate and master's degrees in statistics from Guwahati University. He received an MS in operations research and a PhD in marketing from the University of Texas at Dallas before joining Kellogg.

"I have trust in my people, the staff and the alumni," Jain said about the work that lies ahead. "I am going to be myself, not Don Jacobs. I will work hard and be a good role model for others and do what I am capable of."

Jain lives in Evanston, Illinois, with his wife Sushant and children Dhwani, Kalash and Muskaan.

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