Oral History Interview with Howard Thomas: Growing SMU

• Main Author: THOMAS, Howard
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2016
• Subjects: Singapore Management University; SMU Business School; management education; Dean of SMU; pioneer team; starting up SMU; SMU faculty; research; AACSB accreditation; post-graduate programmes; Practice Research Doctor Programs; undergraduate program; university rankings; challenges and future; advice for students; Asian Studies; Higher Education
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/smu_oh/32; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1031&context=smu_oh
• Institution: Singapore Management University

The interview covered: first involvement with SMU, his background in higher education industry, his contributions in setting up the Business School and growing post-graduate programs, and his role as Dean at SMU. Biography: Dean, Lee Kong Chian School of Business, 2010 - 2014 Professor Howard Thomas served as the dean of Lee Kong Chian School of Business from 2010 to 2014. During his tenure, SMU received business school accreditations by highly regarded and globally recognized programs including AACSB and EQUIS. SMU was also invited to be member of GMAC and the EMBA Council, and joined the Global Business School Network in 2014. Professor Howard Thomas is a highly cited scholar, with fellowship awards from the U.S. Academy of Management, the British Academy of Management, the Strategic Management Society, the Academy of Social Sciences, and the Institute of Directors. He was also awarded the Richard Whipp Lifetime Achievement Award of the British Academy of Management in 2013, and the Strategic Leadership Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB) in 2014. He is a companion of the Association of Business Schools in the UK, and former chair of the board of the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC), AACSB, the Association of Business Schools (ABS), and the Global Foundation of Management Education (GFME). He is also an honorary life member and a board member of the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD). He served as president of the Strategic Management Society and has held visiting and permanent academic posts at the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM), the London Business School, Boston University Questrom School of Business, MIT’s Sloan School of Management, the Kellogg School of Management Northwestern, the European Institute for the Advanced Studies in Management, Brussels, HEC Montreal and the University of British Columbia in Canada. Before SMU, Professor Thomas has had Deanships / Senior Administrative positions at London Business School, AGSM, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Warwick Business School.