Uni of Adelaide Business School attracts high-flyer leaders

Wednesday, 22 January 2014

The University of Adelaide has appointed three outstanding academics with significant international and local credentials to spearhead its prestigious Business School.

Incoming Business School Dean will be Dr Lawrence Abeln.

Dr Abeln has two decades of senior academic leadership experience directing top-ranked MBA, EMBA and Executive Education programs at MIT, Georgetown, Cambridge and University of Texas at Austin. He began his academic career at the MIT Sloan School of Management as the Director of the MBA. He is currently director of a research centre at MIT. Dr Abeln has been the founder of three companies. He will take up his position in February.

Dr Abeln will be joined by August by two new Heads of School.

Associate Professor Paul Coram will lead the School of Accounting and Finance. He is currently Deputy Head of the Department of Accounting at the University of Melbourne. Paul qualified as a Chartered Accountant in Adelaide and originally worked as an auditor. He has strong ongoing links with the accounting profession, particularly with the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Professor Manuel Becerra will take up the role of Head of Marketing and Management. He comes from the IE Business School in Madrid where he was Accenture Chair in Strategic Management and Strategy Department Head. He has also taught in schools in the USA (Michigan State University), Norway (Norwegian Business School) and China (Fudan University).

"A great business school demands a very special kind of leadership, one that seamlessly bridges academia and research with the highest-quality corporate acumen," said Professor Warren Bebbington, University of Adelaide Vice-Chancellor and President.

"We are delighted to welcome Professors Abeln, Coram and Becerra to our university and I know that our students, staff and the business community will benefit enormously not only from their teaching but also from the development of new partnerships with local industry," said Professor Bebbington.

The University of Adelaide Business School has 75 staff members and around 5500 students (undergraduate and postgraduate), representing 1/5 of the University's total enrolments. Its MBA program was established over 50 years ago and is accredited by the AACSB International.

It has undergone major transformation in the past 18 months to provide an enhanced environment for senior academic staff to lead the research agenda, raise the profile of the School and deliver strong research, teaching and unique student experiences.

About the Appointments

Professor Lawrence Abeln
Dean, University of Adelaide Business School

Dr Lawrence Stephen Abeln is currently the Executive Director of the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence, a research center supporting organisations towards more effective performance and decision making.

Dr Abeln has two decades of senior academic leadership experience directing top-ranked MBA, EMBA and Executive Education programs at MIT, Georgetown, Cambridge and University of Texas at Austin. He began his academic career at the MIT Sloan School of Management as the Director of the MBA, at age 26.

Dr Abeln received a PhD in Management and MPhil in International Relations from Cambridge University, and his undergraduate degree from The University of Pennsylvania. He served from 2007 through 2011 as the Deputy Dean (Deputy Director) of the Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, and as Chief Executive Officer of Cambridge Executive Education.

During his four years at Cambridge, he developed leadership frameworks for the university, government and industry sectors; taught executive courses and developed curriculum; negotiated international partnership agreements on behalf of Cambridge to deliver joint programs with institutions throughout the world; and developed projects for the United Nations, Royal Dutch Shell, Rolls Royce, China Mobile, the Government of Qatar, ICBC, the Bank of China and Citic, and many others.

Dr Abeln served on the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Enterprise Forum. He has also been the founder of three companies, has written on trends in graduate management education and he was a founding core team member of the Shell Project Academy in project management.

Professor Manuel Becerra
Head of School (Marketing and Management)

Manuel Becerra holds a PhD in Strategic Management from the University of Maryland and a MSc from USC (Los Angeles). He spent 15 years at IE Business School (Madrid), where he was Accenture Chair in Strategic Management and Strategy Department Head. He has also taught in schools in the USA (Michigan State University), Norway (Norwegian Business School), and China (Fudan University). His research has been published in academic journals like the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Finance, Journal of Management, and Organization Science, among others. He has served on the editorial boards of some of the main international journals in strategic management (AMR, JoM, JMS, JIBS) and has received numerous awards for his research and his teaching.

Associate Professor Paul Coram
Head of School (Accounting and Finance)

Paul Coram is currently Associate Professor and Deputy Head of the Department of Accounting at the University of Melbourne. His research focuses on the effect of auditing and financial accounting information on decision-making through behavioural research methods. His research has been published in leading international journals, including Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, for which he currently serves on the editorial board. Paul has participated in several significant research collaborations with various professional and commercial organisations, including two ARC Linkage Grant projects over the past five years. Paul qualified as a Chartered Accountant in Adelaide and originally worked as an auditor. He has strong ongoing links with the accounting profession, particularly with the Institute of Chartered Accountants through current service on the Victorian Regional Council and also by providing advice on their education programs. Paul is committed to ensuring the quality and scholarship of accounting and business education. He was the inaugural winner of the Pearson Accounting Lecturer of the Year Award and serves on the editorial board of Issues in Accounting Education.

Contact Details