Ken White Named Associate Dean

Ken White, PhD, has been named associate dean of MBA & MS programs at the Robert H. Smith School of Business. He began his new role on August 8, 2012. White, who has over 20 years of leadership experience in higher education, spent the last two years as assistant dean of marketing communications at the Smith School and was acting assistant dean of development and alumni relations for a year. He has been a member of the School’s senior leadership team since his arrival.

As associate dean, White will be responsible for leading the school’s full time and part time MBA programs as well as the MS programs in supply chain management, finance, accounting, information systems, and marketing analytics.

“Ken is a passionate, talented, experienced, student-centered leader,” said Dean Anand. “He is committed to delivering the very best educational experience possible to our students.”

White teaches communication and public relations in the Smith School’s MBA and executive programs. He earned his PhD in communication from the University of Missouri. He is a contributing writer to theWashington Post’s “Career Coach” column and a frequent guest on Maryland Public Television’s Your Money and Business, where he shares his expertise in executive communication and personal branding. In addition, White hosts the award-winning Smith Report, the audio podcast that features the events, news and newsmakers of the Smith School.

He led the charge that got the Smith School included in a five-school, MBA pilot program sponsored by the Public Relations Society of America, along with the business schools at Northwestern, Dartmouth, Quinnipiac and University of Texas-El Paso. Participating schools will teach a course in public relations and reputation management this year. Then, along with PRSA, the five schools will use their experience to encourage business schools across the country to include public relations and reputation management in the curriculum.

Under White’s direction, the marketing communications team greatly increased awareness of the Smith School. The team partnered with faculty to elevate the school’s presence in the news media. The “Smith Effect” advertising campaign is recognized in the current issue of Biz Ed magazine as one of the best campaigns in the business school arena. On the social media front, marketing communications and the Smith School recently won the “Twitterer of the Year Award” for being the business school in the United States that best uses Twitter to communicate with its audiences.

Prior to joining the Smith School, White was vice president for communication and marketing at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. Throughout his career he has led teams responsible for student success, curriculum development, teaching effectiveness, strategic planning, admissions, development, marketing and communications.