Kelley dean revealed

Dan Smith, interim dean at the Kelley School of Business will be named the new dean today at 10 a.m. in the Kelley School at IU Purdue University at Indianapolis.\nSince April 2004, Smith served as Interim dean, replacing Dan Dalton who stepped down from the position to go back to the classroom after eight years on the job.\nAfter an ongoing process, about a week ago Charles Bantz, IU vice president of long-range planning and chancellor of IUPUI officially offered Smith the job.\n"(Bantz and I) worked through the details over the last week to 10 days and finalized it in the last day or two," Smith said. "It feels good, we can now move forward on some major strategic initiatives."\nSome of the new initiatives that Smith plans to implement include improving upon Kelley Direct. Kelley Direct is an online program that allows students to pursue degrees via the internet, including Master of Business Administration degree.\nAdditionally Smith wants to improve the MBA program, something he felt could not be done carrying the interim tag.\nThroughout the process the search spanned the entire country as potential candidates were interviewed, but Smith's vision to lead the Kelley School to international prominence was a deciding factor in the Smith being appointed the new Dean.\n"We picked him because he was the best of an outstanding group," Bantz said. "It was a bonus (he was at IU), but it would not get him the job and it didn't. It was his talent passion and vision."\nWhile there are certain initiatives Smith plans employ there are other goals he wants to accomplish. One is to enhance the thought leadership and the Kelley School's research presence throughout the world. Another is aggressive fund raising, particularly for endowed chairs in professorships for faculty.\nThe undergraduate program is another area of interest for Smith as new innovations planned to introduce into the curriculum, something he said he looks to follow closely.\nSmith has been at IU since 1996, focusing on brand management and marketing strategy. He also was the chair of the MBA Program from 1998 to 2001.\nAlthough he is now the dean of the Kelley School of Business rather than interim dean, he said not much will change in his day-to-day life.\n"While it is a deep honor to serve as the dean, my life hasn't changed a whole lot," Smith said. "At the end of the day I was pretty much making decisions as a dean for the last year so my life won't change a whole lot ... I'm really committed to the well being of the Kelley School. Had the dean position not worked out, there is a high likelihood I would have stayed on teaching and researching and serving any way the dean wanted."\nThe passion and vision Smith has for Kelley School isn't by accident, Bantz said.\n"Dan is a professor of marketing and it is not accidental that he has that expertise and he is very good about seeing how all of comes together," he said. "(Smith) has a very clear strategic vision to move the Kelley School to be even more successful in a competitive market"