The next dean will lead an inclusive process to sharpen the school's aspirations and define what it means to be a premier public research business school in the next decade. The vision should honor the school's distinctive global heritage and its Built @ Darla Moore ethos while setting clear, measurable priorities for research, graduate and undergraduate education, AI, partnerships, philanthropy and student success.

Because the school is already large, visible and highly ranked in signature areas, the dean's charge is not to invent an identity from scratch but to focus, elevate and operationalize an ambitious next chapter. The Dean should listen to faculty, staff, students, alumni, advisory boards and University leadership; identify highly-targeted areas where Moore can lead nationally and globally; and align talent, budget, facilities, communications and fundraising around those priorities.

An early priority for the Dean will be positioning the school as a premier destination for faculty and students alike, building confidence internally and externally that the Moore School is organized for excellence, momentum and impact.

The Moore School's future reputation depends on the strength, visibility, and impact of its faculty. The dean must be a credible academic leader who understands the norms of a research university, the economics of faculty recruitment and retention, the importance of doctoral education, and the ways that scholarly excellence strengthens teaching, rankings, corporate partnerships and philanthropy.

The dean will work with the senior associate dean for research and academics, department chairs and faculty leaders to support high-quality scholarship across business disciplines; increase resources for research; protect time and infrastructure for faculty excellence; support junior faculty success; and elevate the national and international visibility of Moore School research.

The dean should also strengthen interdisciplinary research and thought leadership in areas where USC and the Moore School can make distinctive contributions, including AI and business, global business, economic
competitiveness, risk and uncertainty, supply chain, human capital, entrepreneurship, and sustainability.

The next dean will ensure that Moore graduates are data proficient, analytically capable, functionally grounded and ready for today's and tomorrow's business challenges. This includes deepening applied learning, internships, consulting projects, study abroad, mentoring, executive engagement and career support while ensuring that undergraduate and graduate curricula reflect changing employer expectations.

AI is both a strategic opportunity and a leadership test. The dean should build on AI at Moore, the AI Summit, the appointment of the director of AI initiatives, and University-level AI strategy to ensure that students learn not only to work alongside AI, but also cultivate the judgment, ethics, communication, leadership and adaptability, that emerging technologies require, all characteristics of leaders that will remain important in the future. The dean should support faculty as they incorporate AI into courses and research and should use employer partnerships to keep the curriculum connected to real business needs.

The dean will also encourage innovative cross-campus academic partnerships, including collaborations with engineering, sport and entertainment management, nursing and healthcare, data science, law, information and communications, and other units where business education can add value and USC can create distinctive programs.

Recent internal analysis shows a changing graduate market: the Moore School’s Professional MBA fall enrollment declined from 440 in 2018 to 295 in 2025, while the one-year MBA grew from 11 to 62 students over the same period. The Master of International Business grew from 47 to 83 students, and the Master of Human Resources and Master of Accounting programs remained stable and strong, placing nearly 100 percent of their students at graduation. The dean will need to lead a disciplined portfolio strategy regarding graduate programs.

The Moore School's student body is large and talented. The next dean should be visible to students and committed to their academic, professional and personal success. The dean will support student services, career management, international programs, pathway programs, scholarships and fellowships, student wellness and experiential learning.

The school is proud of its undergraduate pipeline and pathway programs, such as Dominion Energy Power Forward, Business Success Academy, and Rising Scholars. These programs are aligned with USC's flagship responsibility to serve South Carolina and can help create a broader, stronger and more prepared pipeline of future business leaders.

The dean must also ensure that the school provides a welcoming environment for all students, including first-generation students, students from South Carolina, international students, graduate and professional learners, and students seeking global, technical and leadership preparation.

The next dean will be one of the school's chief relationship builders. The Moore School's alumni network, advisory boards, corporate partners, centers, career management office, executive education platform and Business Partnership Foundation provide a strong foundation for external engagement.

The dean will engage employers to understand workforce needs, create experiential learning and hiring opportunities, support applied research and executive education, and strengthen Moore's role in economic development. The dean should also be an effective public voice for the school and the University, able to connect research and education to the challenges facing business, the state and the global economy.

Corporate and alumni partnerships should be reciprocal: the school should prepare talent and knowledge for organizations, while partners should help shape practical learning, support students, invest in faculty excellence, and amplify the Moore School brand.

The next dean will inherit a significant opportunity to align philanthropy with the school's long-term priorities. Internal campaign planning materials identify major investment priorities that include endowed or termed chairs and professorships, building enhancement and innovation, scholarships and fellowships, experiential learning and student wellness, and academic centers and departments.

The dean must be a confident and authentic fundraiser who enjoys engaging donors and prospects, can translate academic priorities into compelling cases for support, and can partner productively with University advancement, the Business Partnership Foundation, advisory boards and alumni leaders. The dean should be able to steward relationships with integrity and communicate how gifts will produce measurable student, faculty, research and community impact.

The Darla Moore School is a complex enterprise. The dean will be expected to manage resources strategically and transparently, make disciplined decisions about staffing and facilities, sustain accreditation expectations, invest in technology and data-informed management, and ensure that the school's operating model supports its academic ambitions. The dean must be willing to make hard decisions while communicating the rationale clearly and respectfully. The next dean should work through shared governance and a strong leadership team, empowering associate deans, department chairs, program leaders and staff while holding the organization accountable for progress.

The dean's success will depend on trust. Faculty, staff, students and external stakeholders will look for a leader who listens, communicates consistently, respects shared governance, acts with integrity, and creates a culture where people understand priorities and see progress.

The dean should be accessible and present, a steady decision maker, an effective convener, and a leader who can celebrate success while addressing persistent challenges. The dean should model a culture of inclusion, collaboration and accountability, ensuring that academic excellence and human respect reinforce one another.

The next dean should be able to work across USC as an institutional citizen, building bridges with other deans and senior leaders and ensuring that Moore's success contributes to the broader University mission.

• A terminal degree in a business discipline or closely related field is strongly preferred; a Ph.D. or equivalent scholarly doctorate is preferred for academic candidates. 
• A distinguished record of academic and/or professional accomplishment and leadership. 
• A record of scholarship, teaching and service appropriate for appointment as a tenured full professor in an appropriate department of the Moore School; or in the case of exceptional nontraditional candidates, demonstrable intellectual leadership, comparable scholarly or policy impact, and significant organizational executive experience. 
• A demonstrated commitment to research excellence, doctoral education, faculty development and the role of scholarship in a research-intensive business school. 

• Success in developing, communicating, and implementing a compelling vision and strategic plan in a complex organization. 
• Understanding of the evolving business education landscape, including undergraduate demand, graduate enrollment pressures, online and hybrid learning, lifelong learning, executive education, AI, analytics, global education and employer expectations. 
• Capacity to identify priorities, align resources, measure progress, and move an organization from aspiration to execution. 
• Experience structuring and executing interdisciplinary or cross-college academic partnership, including the administrative, governance, and resource-sharing arrangements (e.g., tuition sharing and credit-hour allocations) needed to sustain them. 

• Substantial administrative leadership experience at the level of dean, associate dean, department chair, center director, senior executive or comparable role. 
• Demonstrated ability to manage complex operations with transparency and accountability, including university budgeting models (e.g., incentive-based or RCM budgeting), enrollment dynamics, capital projects, personnel, facilities, and accreditation. 
• Judgment to make difficult decisions, communicate tradeoffs, and steward resources in support of academic excellence. 

• Ability to recruit, retain, mentor and support outstanding faculty and staff in a competitive national and global market, including proactive retention strategies, competitive compensation practices, and the strategic deployment of endowed chairs. 
• Respect for shared governance and experience working effectively with faculty, staff, students, and administrative leaders. 
• Commitment to building a collegial, inclusive and high-performing workplace culture, with demonstrated attention to staff workload, retention, career development, and administrative infrastructure across critical student-facing and operational units.

• Commitment to student success, career outcomes, experiential learning, global education, access, affordability and student well-being.
• Ability to support strong undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and executive education programs while balancing resources across the portfolio.
• Understanding of first-generation, international, professional, residential and working adult learners.

• A record of engaging alumni, donors, corporate partners, advisory boards, public officials and community leaders.
• A demonstrated track record of successful philanthropic leadership, including personal participation in cultivating and closing major gifts, and leading or supporting comprehensive capital campaigns.
• An entrepreneurial orientation toward partnerships, executive education, lifelong learning, applied research and revenue generation.

• Exceptional listening and speaking skills; ability to inspire internal and external audiences around a shared vision.
• Integrity, humility, courage, resilience, sound judgment, and political dexterity, with the ability to represent the school persuasively to diverse public and private stakeholders across South Carolina and the United States.
• Visible, accessible and authentic leadership style; ability to build trust, manage conflict and represent the school with credibility and warmth.