[9 April 2003]
Professor David B. Montgomery appointed Dean of School of Business at Singapore Management University

Renowned Stanford professor takes up appointment in Asia

The Singapore Management University (SMU) is pleased to announce that Prof David B. Montgomery, the Sebastian S. Kresge Professor of Marketing Strategy, Emeritus at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, will assume the role of Dean, School of Business, commencing 1 May 2003.

Prof Montgomery is a globally known authority on marketing. He is the 2002 recipient of the American Marketing Association’s prestigious Mahajan Award for contributions to marketing strategy. He has held academic positions at MIT’s Sloan School of Management and for the past 33 years the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Prof Montgomery has also served as Executive Director at the Marketing Science Institute, and assumed editorial responsibilities at numerous journals such as the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Marketing Science, Management Science, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and Journal of International Marketing.

Commenting on the new appointment, SMU President Prof Ronald Frank remarked: “We are extremely fortunate to have David Montgomery join SMU. During his career, he has been an outstanding teacher with students at any level—from undergraduate to the most experienced managers. He is also an extremely prolific author (10 books and about 100 articles), and the quality of his work has placed him among the academic leaders in the field of marketing. In addition, he has been a very effective consultant on five continents. These characteristics make him an unusually valuable person to have as Dean, particularly during the next phase of development of our business school.”

“It’s simply incredible to have someone like David, a world-renowned scholar as our Business School Dean. The global business school community will certainly take notice. We are sending out a strong signal that we are serious in our journey to attain world-class status,” said Provost, Prof Tan Chin Tiong.

In his new position, Prof Montgomery takes on the role of a chief academic and administrative officer of the School. He will work with the Provost to recruit a high caliber faculty and student body; create a climate of intellectual vitality and excellence; support faculty in their teaching, research, and service; oversee financial management of the School; and assume increasing responsibility for the School's alumni relations. Prof Montgomery succeeds from Associate Prof Tsui Kai Chong, who has held the position since the School’s inception in June 2000.

“Singapore and SMU provide fabulous opportunities to students and faculty alike to be intellectual entrepreneurs, which is especially timely as Asia assumes an increasingly central role in the new century. I consider it a great honor to have the occasion to help lead and participate in SMU’s development as a research university – and the School of Business as a centre for grooming future generations of leaders and entrepreneurs,” said Prof. Montgomery.

The School of Business currently has 1150 undergraduates, and will be admitting another 450 students in the new academic year. The university is expecting its first batch of graduates from the School at the end of the 2003 academic year