At the age of 43 Professor Gerald George is all set to be the youngest new dean of Singapore Management University’s (SMU) Lee Kong Chian School of Business (LKCSB). Professor George, who will join SMU on January 1, 2015 for a five-year term, is currently Deputy Dean of the Imperial College Business School and the Director of the Rajiv Gandhi Centre. He also serves as the International Dean of BML Munjal University, an innovative new university mentored by Imperial and located in Gurgaon.
The newly appointed Dean Prof George has a vision and mission to make the business school one of the top 20 institutions in the world, in terms of thought leadership, quality of teaching and student experience. Professor Gerard George wants to build an entrepreneurial eco-system, as well as strengthen the business school's integration with the community
A Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Professor George is also the Editor of the Academy of Management Journal, the flagship empirical journal in the field of management. He leads Imperial College’s Elite Programme as Academic Director. This unique programme sponsored by the London Stock Exchange develops and supports high-potential private companies through their next stage of growth. Besides his extensive experience partnering with the business and social communities, Professor George is also an award-winning teacher and researcher. He has also written two books on entrepreneurship and published many articles in leading scholarly journals.
Speaking to reporters at SMU, SMU President, Professor Arnoud De Meyer, said that he was very happy to recommend Professor George to the SMU Board of Trustees because of his outstanding research and his talents as the Editor of one of the most important journals in his field. His experiences in leading educational institutions and research institutes “notwithstanding his young age” also stood out for Professor De Meyer.
Professor George said, “SMU’s pedagogy is incredibly innovative, and this is widely recognised around the world. What I bring to the table would be to help create an innovative and entrepreneurial thinking and mind set.” He elaborated that through projects, internships, policy work, there are many opportunities for LKCSB to integrate with businesses, the government, and community-at-large.
On training students and the importance of nurturing an entrepreneurial mind set in young people, he explained that there is a difference between training students to be bankers and entrepreneurs: bankers protect the downside risks, while entrepreneurs look at the potential upside and focus on the opportunities.
Professor De Meyer also highlighted that in the past 10 years, many small businesses have sprung up, but they struggle to expand. He remarked that Professor George’s expertise in growing small and medium-sized enterprises is one key area of contribution he can make to the Singapore business community. Having collaborated with the London Stock Exchange on the Elite programme, Professor George is also confident that he can help make Singapore an “entrepreneurial destination”, highlighting that “there is no other such model in the Asian context".
Professor Rajendra Srivastava, SMU’s Provost and Deputy President, highlighted that “The platform now exists in many pieces. Professor George will be instrumental in putting it together.”
As SMU welcomed Professor George to SMU as the Dean-designate for LKCSB, Professor De Meyer and Professor Srivastava also expressed their appreciation to Professor Howard Thomas for his very effective leadership of LKCSB in the last five years. "He has laid a firm foundation upon which the School’s new leadership can build. We are fortunate that beyond 2014, Professor Thomas will be with us as a Distinguished Professor of Strategic Management and Management Education, and will support us in many of our growing activities in Singapore and the region,” said Professor De Meyer.
The University
Singapore Management University (SMU) is an AACSB and an EQUIS accredited institution. The University has established a reputation for pushing the boundaries of innovation, creativity and academic excellence in redefining tertiary education. Known as a pioneer in its holistic admissions approach of recruiting all-rounded, multi-talented students and incorporating leadership and soft skills training in the undergraduate curriculum, SMU embraces its mission to create and disseminate knowledge, aspiring to generate leading edge research with global impact as well as to produce broad-based, creative and entrepreneurial leaders for the knowledge-based economy.
SMU Academic Programmes
SMU is home to over 8,300 undergraduate and postgraduate students and comprises six schools: the School of Accountancy; Lee Kong Chian School of Business; School of Economics; School of Information Systems; School of Law; and School of Social Sciences. SMU offers six bachelor's degree programmes in Accountancy, Business Management, Economics, Information Systems Management, Law, and Social Sciences; nineteen Master's programmes in Applied Economics, Applied Finance, Applied Information Systems, Business Administration, CFO Leadership, Communication Management, Executive MBA, Financial Economics, Global Master of Finance Dual Degree, Innovation, IT in Business (Financial Services), IT in Business (Service Sector Analytics), Juris Doctor, Laws, Management, Professional Accounting, Quantitative Finance, Trisector Collaboration, and Wealth Management; and eight PhD programmes in Business (Finance), Business (General Management), Business (Marketing), Business (Organisational Behaviour and Human Resources), Economics, Information Systems, Psychology, and an Interdisciplinary Doctoral Programme.
Global Diversity
International students in SMU come from India, China, ASEAN countries as well as further afield such as Europe, North America, Africa, the Middle East, Maldives, Japan and South Korea. They bring into SMU the richness of diversity and cultural vibrancy, creating a learning environment beyond geographical borders and introducing global perspectives. SMU has over 200 partner universities across all the continents of the world for exchange programmes, allowing students to pursue studies abroad for a semester or two.
SMU Graduates
In preparing graduates to excel in the business world, the University incorporates into the curriculum, opportunities for global exposure, internship and community service, leadership training, and workplace-ready skills. Some 84% of SMU undergraduates benefit from overseas exposure which includes exchange programme with an overseas university, Business Study Missions, overseas internship and community service. An all-rounded education that challenges perceptions, enriches the mind and sharpens communication skills helps differentiate SMU graduates and gives them a competitive edge in the global marketplace. Already the University has achieved a high degree of recognition in Singapore, Asia and beyond. Today, SMU has over 10,000 undergraduate and postgraduate alumni.
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