Administrative News: Academic Leadership Transitions
Dear Members of the Brandeis Community,I’m writing to share some important updates regarding academic leadership at Brandeis. On June 30, Kathryn Graddy and Maria Madison will be stepping down from their roles as Dean of the Brandeis International Business School, and Interim Dean of the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, respectively. They have led their schools with distinction through significant global challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Their notable accomplishments are listed in detail below. Please join me in thanking them for their leadership. We are pleased that they will continue to be active members of our community.
Kathryn Graddy will step down as Dean of the Business School on June 30 and return to the faculty as the Fred and Rita Richman Distinguished Professor of Economics, after a well-deserved sabbatical. I want to extend my deepest thanks to Katy for her outstanding leadership over the past nine years—seven as Dean and two as Senior Associate Dean.
Under Katy’s guidance, the International Business School has achieved some notable accomplishments:
- Leading highly successful fundraising efforts for both endowment and current-use initiatives.
- Growing Business into the university’s second-largest major, and launching a new finance minor.
- Establishing the highly popular Master of Science in Business Analytics program in 2018, with an online version set to launch this fall.
- Enrolling the largest MBA class in the past decade in fall 2024.
- Developing a forward-looking five-year strategic plan (2023–2028) focused on Brandeis Business for Global Good, aligning with our core values.
- Fostering a vibrant and collegial community among faculty and staff, supported by a dedicated Board of Advisors.
Maria Madison will step down after three years as the Interim Dean of the Heller School on June 30, to begin a six-month sabbatical. I want to extend my deepest thanks to Maria for her outstanding leadership over the past three years.
Under Maria’s guidance, the Heller School’s notable accomplishments include:
- Maintaining Heller’s U.S. News and World Report top graduate school ranking of #9 for Social Policy and #13 for Health Policy
- Contributing 30% of the University’s R1 status through rigorous award-winning research and increasing grant and endowment revenue year-on-year by 20%.
- Rescaling the Heller budget to better align expenses with enrollments, leading to a balanced budget in FY25.
- Merging Heller’s global programs (SID and COEX) into a new one-year MA in Global Sustainability Policy and Management (MA GSPM).
- Moving the Social Impact MBA into the Business School.
- Growing the Executive MBA (EMBA) and Executive Education programs.
- Creating the Atkins Fellowships to increase undergraduate access to graduate research opportunities and mentors at Heller.
- Introducing online certificate/non degree courses with Rabb on AI in healthcare and policy, Cybersecurity, and Equity.
- Supporting and growing faculty and research partnerships across and beyond the campus.
I am grateful for Katy and Maria’s many contributions and excited that they will continue to be active members of our community. We are also fortunate to have a deep bench of talented leaders at Brandeis and look forward to announcing the new Interim Deans of the School of Business and Economics and the School of Social Sciences and Social Policy on May 15.
Sincerely,
Carol Fierke