Wharton names admissions head

The Wharton School will name Samuel Lundquist the new admissions director for its graduate division, effective April 2, Wharton Public Affairs said last week. Lundquist, who is currently admissions director at Dartmouth College's Amos Tuck School of Business, served as Wharton's associate admissions director from 1985 until 1987. The position of admissions director was formerly held by John Enyart, who stepped down in February in order to pursue a "more senior position at the university level." Lundquist said he will come into the admissions process at the tail end of the selection phase. "My primary focus will be on making sure the yield is managed correctly," Lundquist said. "There is a lot of management to be done over the summer with deferrals and people who change their plans." "I'll also need to start developing the plan for the next year of recruitment," he added. Lundquist said his main focus will be to make the admission process more personal and representative of the school. "My overall goal is to help make the admissions process as reflective of the Wharton experience as possible," he said. He said he feels Wharton has many strengths which he would like to communicate to applicants. The "breadth and depth" of the choices in course selection and the innovative quality of the courses makes it a unique place, according to Lundquist. And he added that the faculty work hard to stay updated on current events that are relevant to their students. Finally, Lundquist said he believes the school's greatest strength lies in the dynamics of the diverse student body. "The key word is opportunity and there are a lot of them [at Wharton]," he said. He added that he does not want students to feel that his office is merely a "vehicle for selection." Lundquist said he is also concerned about the challenge and potential problem of the size of Wharton's applicant pool, which this year exceeded 50,000. "With such a high volume of applicants, students may not feel they are viewed individually," he said. "My goal is to let them know and make them feel that they are all evaluated as individuals." Lundquist said that since Wharton has one of the largest business programs and Dartmouth has one of the smallest, this move will be a big change for him. However, since he worked at Wharton so recently, he said the transition will be made easier because he already knows and has worked with so many of the people he will work with again. He said the biggest changes are really the physical ones. "When I was last here, the executive education building was under construction and the Lauder-Fischer building was just a plan on paper," he said. "The physical aspects of the campus have changed significantly." Lundquist added he loves Philadelphia and is excited about the move. Isik Inselbag, director of Wharton's graduate division, said in a statement he is pleased that Lundquist will be returning to the University. "We are extremely pleased that Sam Lundquist will be coming back to Wharton," Inselbag said. "He is a highly respected professional in his field with a proven track record of success -- and he is already very familiar with the Wharton School."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.