Update on search for next dean of MIT Sloan

Dear members of the MIT Sloan community,

As I shared at the end of January when announcing Dave Schmittlein’s plans to step down as dean, we will be launching a search for his successor. I write today with a brief update on how our planning for the search is coming along.

I am thrilled to share that Professors Kate Kellogg and Andrew Lo have generously agreed to co-chair the search advisory committee for MIT Sloan’s next dean. Kate and Andrew have a deep understanding of the MIT Sloan community and are committed to broadly engaging community members in this critical work. The advisory committee will be responsible for assessing challenges and opportunities facing the school, determining the type of leader needed at this time, soliciting input from MIT Sloan and the broader Institute community, and ultimately recommending a short list of outstanding leaders for my consideration.

As with the last search for the MIT Sloan dean, we will be considering internal and external faculty candidates for the role. I have asked executive search firm Isaacson, Miller to contribute to this effort, as they have a proven track record of identifying strong academic leaders and were instrumental in bringing Dave to the Institute in 2007.

I expect to write to you in the next few weeks with the committee’s full membership and a timeline for their work. The plan is to begin stakeholder engagement this semester and complete the search process before the end of the fall 2024 semester.

As this process begins to take shape, please join me in thanking Kate and Andrew for agreeing to lead the search advisory committee. Recommendations regarding the best candidates for dean, along with any thoughts about MIT Sloan’s next chapter, may be shared to mitsloan-dean@mit.edu. Your feedback will be treated as confidential.

Sincerely,

Cynthia Barnhart
Provost