Business dean to step down in June

Howard Frank took over a decade ago as dean of the university's College of Business and Management. When he steps down at the end of this academic year, it will be from his post as head of the Robert H. Smith School of Business.

And what a difference a name makes.

Frank was charged with leading the business school just as Robert H. Smith made his record-breaking $15 million donation to its endowment in 1998.

"We've moved from a very nice regional business school to one of the best business schools in the world," Frank said.

He cited The Financial Times, which ranks the school the 5th best public business school. When Frank came aboard, the College of Business and Management was ranked 68th, he said.

Though some performance rankings have improved drastically under Frank's leadership, others such as U.S. News and World Report's have not. The undergraduate business school is ranked 21st in the country, the same as in 1999.

And though Frank concedes he has the numbers memorized, he dismissed the U.S. News rankings, saying, "they're all about name recognition only at the undergraduate level."

"There's a 10-year lag between recognition as a great research institution and recognition as a great school," Frank said.

Magazine rankings aside, Frank's colleagues lauded his work for the business school.

Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs Patricia Cleveland explained that unlike many business school deans - including Frank's predecessor, William Mayer - Frank put as much of his energy into undergraduate programs as he did MBA programs.

She also credited him for recruiting "superstar" faculty from other top business schools.

"I adore him," Cleveland said. "I'm absolutely broken-hearted he's stepping down."

Senior Associate Dean Gnanalingam Anandalingam was also effusive in his praise for Frank.

"He's done wonders for the place," Anandalingam said. "He has been a great person to work with. I really can't think of anything [negative]."

Still, Cleveland said Frank has "rustled a few feathers" at the business school, running things more like a businessman than an academic.

Frank has had a wide-ranging career as an information technology expert in both the public and private sectors. In addition to working at the Defense Department, he was the founder, chairman and CEO of Network Management Inc.; the president and CEO of Contel Information Systems; and the founder, president and CEO of Network Analysis Corporation.

Next month, university Provost Nariman Farvardin will organize a search committee that Frank said will likely take six to eight months to select next year's dean. Although no possible candidates have been officially announced, Cleveland said she would like to see Anandalingam as the next dean.

Anandalingam would not comment as to whether he would consider the position if offered to him.

Frank said he plans to take a year's sabbatical to write a book about managing and academia, and then return to the business school as a faculty member.

"I'm looking forward to teaching a full array of things," Frank said.

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