Wharton vice dean to leave in July

Wharton Vice Dean and Undergraduate Division Director Barbara Kahn will be the third dean to leave Wharton for another position this year.

Kahn will assume the deanship of the University of Miami's School of Business Administration on August 1.

Kahn has been on the Marketing department faculty for the past 17 years and has served in her current role as vice dean of Wharton's undergraduate program for the past four years.

During Kahn's tenure, she oversaw internal and external curriculum reviews; a marketing campaign plan for improving outside understanding of undergraduate business education; and the beginning of the Roy and Diana Vagelos Program in Life Sciences and Management and the Consumer Psychology minor.

Wharton Dean Patrick Harker announced Kahn's move in an e-mail sent to all Wharton undergraduates last week.

"Although the Wharton School will be sad to lose [Kahn], this is a terrific opportunity for her and an outstanding recognition of her scholarly contributions and achievements in advancing the quality and reputation of Wharton's undergraduate programs," Harker wrote in the e-mail.

Kahn's departure is the latest in a string of administrative exits at Wharton this year.

Beside Kahn, two other deans have left: Harker will assume the presidency of the University of Delaware on July 1, and Vice Dean for Executive Education Jonathan Spector left the school in April to become the chief executive officer of the Conference Board, a nonprofit business-research organization.

The departures of Kahn, Harker and Spector leave three top administrative positions at Wharton empty. Each will be filled with the aid of a search firm; an official search committee will take charge of finding Harker's replacement.

It will be up to the new dean - who could be announced as early as June - to name Kahn's replacement.

Kahn, like Spector before her, said her decision to leave had nothing to do with Harker's impending departure.

"It's with great sadness that I move on," she said, noting that "the University of Miami has been on a real growth trajectory recently," she said, lauding its leadership under president Donna Shalala, a former cabinet member during Bill Clinton's presidency.

Kahn said she expects her exit to be smooth; she pushed for an Aug. 1 start date in Miami to give herself more time to work with her replacement, whom she expects will be a current member of Wharton's faculty.

In a press release, University of Miami leaders said they chose Kahn in part based on her record at Wharton.

"The undergraduate program that she directs at the Wharton School is consistently ranked the best in the nation," said Miami's Executive Vice President and Provost Thomas LeBlanc. "Her vision for the School of Business Administration is compelling and will bring the school to the next level of excellence."

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