Stanford names new Graduate School of Business dean

Stanford University professor and economist Jonathan Levin will be taking the helm of the university’s top-ranked Graduate School of Business this fall, replacing outgoing dean Garth Saloner, President John Hennessy and Provost John Etchemendy announced Monday.

Jonathan Levin, a recognized economist whose research has focused on the field of industrial organization, first joined the faculty in 2000. He is currently serving as the Holbrook Working Professor in Price Theory in the economics department and is also a professor by courtesy at the Graduate School of Business.

Saloner announced in September that he would be stepping down amid concerns about a lawsuit filed by a former faculty member whose wife Saloner had a romantic relationship with.

The former faculty member, James Phills, filed a lawsuit against Saloner and the university in April 2014 claiming that he was the victim of discriminatory treatment at Stanford, according to the university.

In a September 2015 letter to the business-school community announcing his resignation, Saloner called the lawsuit “baseless and protracted.”

“I have become increasingly concerned that the ongoing litigation and growing media interest will distract all of you from the important work that you are doing and unfairly impact this stellar school’s deserved reputation,” he wrote.

Saloner has served as dean of the top-ranked business school since 2009. He said in September that he planned to return to teaching and research at the business school.

Levin, who chaired Stanford’s Department of Economics from 2011 to 2014, is also a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and director of the Industrial Organization Program at the National Bureau for Economic Research.

Levin was also educated at Stanford: He earned a Bachelor of Science in math and a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1994. He went on to obtain a Master of Philosophy in economics from Oxford University in 1996 and a doctorate in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1999. He joined the Stanford faculty as an assistant professor in 2000 and became a full professor in 2008.

Levin’s research has explored a range of topics, including auctions and marketplace design, the economics of organizations, consumer finance and econometric methods for analyzing imperfect competition, according to the university.

His current research interests include internet platforms, the health care system and ways to incorporate new datasets into economic research.

In addition to his academic research, Levin has consulted for a number of companies including Comcast, eBay, Google, Yahoo and Zynga, as well as the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Treasury, according to an online university biography.

In 2011, Levin received the American Economic Association’s John Bates Clark Medal as the economist under the age of 40 who has made the most significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge, the university noted in a press release announcing his appointment.

In the university release, Etchemendy called Levin “an outstanding teacher, a skilled and innovative administrator and a brilliant scholar who has deep understanding of both the academic enterprise and the workings of industry and government.”

“Importantly, he brings a vision for the future of management education that is rooted in his extensive scholarship on the evolving needs of a global business community,” Etchemendy added. “I have every confidence he will continue the school’s strong trajectory.”

The Graduate School of Business, named the No. 1 business school in the nation this year by U.S. News & World Report, offers a range of degrees and programs to 1,000 students. The school has a 6.1 percent admission rate and offers a 6-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio, among the lowest of any graduate business program, according to Stanford.

“The GSB is devoted to transforming lives by preparing future leaders to change organizations and change the world,” Levin stated in the university press release. “It will be an honor to join such a committed, dedicated faculty and to support their mission of applying both academic rigor and real-world relevance to their research. Deepening our understanding of management and bringing that knowledge into the classroom couldn’t be more exciting.”

Levin’s appointment begins on Sept. 1, 2016.