Sitting down with the Interim Dean

As the search process continues for the next dean of Mendoza College, we asked Interim Dean Roger Huang to provide an update on the school’s priorities. Dean Huang, who has been with Mendoza College since 2000, is a former chair of the Department of Finance and has been associate dean since 2008. He also serves as the college’s Kenneth R. Meyer Professor of Global Investment Management.

What is your vision for the College?

To “define” Mendoza, I always go back to what our founder, Rev. John O’Hara, C.S.C., said in 1921: “Education is about the heart and the mind together, and business, done ethically, can and does advance civilization.” That’s the Notre Dame approach to business education. Even if one day “ethics” is no longer fashionable in business schools, it will still be priority No. 1 here. It is our raison d’etre.

Where do you see the College going from here?

We have a calling and an obligation to take our approach to business education out to the world, so our next goal is to increase our global reach. The reality is that we are now in a global economy and our students need to be prepared for it. But, more importantly, as Catholics, with a big “C,” we need to be catholic with a small “c,” and spread the word.

How do you do that?

First, we need to strengthen our brand. Everyone is saying they’re promoting business for good. We need to further define that. Second, we need to be innovative.

So how do we set ourselves apart?

By raising the bar. We have specific areas of strength under the umbrella of business for good. The Gigot Center (for Entrepreneurship) is a thought leader in social entrepreneurship. The Master of Nonprofit Administration group is positioning its program around developing thought leaders in social impact—measuring the impact of societal outreach. In between these two bookends, our other programs are identifying their signature areas. For example, we have our Executive Education programs focused on developing values-based leadership. So we are adding depth to what it means to Ask More of Business.

What do you mean by “innovation”? Is something in the works?

Graduate business education is changing rapidly. We must respond—and ideally lead—in program innovation. We are exploring new degrees to address specialized business needs in our strength areas. One example is a new degree starting through our Master of Nonprofit Administration program with Renmin University in China. We will recruit students from the thousands of emerging nonprofit foundations in China who are on the fast track to become these organizations’ next CEOs. They will study here for two summers, and we will teach them our brand of nonprofit administration.

The Stayer Center for Executive Education is nearing completion next door. How will its addition change the College’s offerings?

We have a lot of plans in mind. We plan to grow the non-degree programs as well as international programs. We have a university in Spain (Universidad Francisco di Vitoria) that will be sending us students for the Executive Integral Leadership program. We have developed custom programs recently for universities and other organizations in Chile, Japan, Guatemala and China.

The College’s undergraduate enrollment is up 20 percent from five years ago. How is Mendoza managing the added load?

We’ve had to extend the class day to offer more sections of classes. We joined with the College of Arts and Letters in creating a business economics minor to address some of their students’ interests. And this year, we recruited 13 regular faculty members, which is slightly more than 10 percent of our total faculty pool. But this, I think, is the key accomplishment for us: We still have no (admissions) gates for anybody. As long as you are admitted to Notre Dame, you can come into our business school.

Do you think Mendoza can maintain its No. 1 ranking for its undergraduate business program in the Bloomberg Businessweek survey for a fourth consecutive year?

The crown jewel of our achievements, to me, is not the No. 1 ranking. It’s the fact that we have been able to accept anybody who wants to be a business major and make sure that everybody has a success story here. Our goal remains to turn out business professionals who can change the world for the better. The ranking is gratifying recognition that we’re doing that and so many other things well, but our mission remains to offer the highest-quality, values-led business education.
 

The Stayer Center for Executive Education is nearing completion next door. How will its addition change the College’s offerings?

We have a lot of plans in mind. We plan to grow the non-degree programs as well as international programs. We have a university in Spain (Universidad Francisco di Vitoria) that will be sending us students for the Executive Integral Leadership program. We have
developed custom programs recently for universities and other organizations in Chile, Japan, Guatemala and China.

The College’s undergraduate enrollment is up 20 percent from five years ago. How is Mendoza managing the added load?

We’ve had to extend the class day to offer more sections of classes. We joined with the College of Arts and Letters in creating a business economics minor to address some of their students’ interests. And this year, we recruited 13 regular faculty members, which is slightly more than 10 percent of our total faculty pool. But this, I think, is the key accomplishment for us: We still have no (admissions) gates for anybody. As long as you are admitted to Notre Dame, you can come into our business school.

Do you think Mendoza can maintain its No. 1 ranking for its undergraduate business program in the Bloomberg Businessweek survey for a fourth consecutive year?

The crown jewel of our achievements, to me, is not the No. 1 ranking. It’s the fact that we have been able to accept anybody who wants to be a business major and make sure that everybody has a success story here. Our goal remains to turn out business professionals who can change the world for the better. The ranking is gratifying recognition that we’re doing that and so many other things well, but our mission remains to offer the highest-quality, values-led business education.