GOIZUETA BUZZ
EMORY WELCOMES NEW PRESIDENT After four years of dedicated leadership, Emory University President Claire Sterk will step down from her role in August of this year. Following an extensive international search by the Emory University Board of Trustees and the Presidential Selection Committee (PSC), Gregory L. Fenves has been unanimously voted in as the 21st president of Emory. Fenves will spend the summer wrapping up his responsibilities as president of
the University of Texas at Austin before starting at Emory on August 1. Said Robert C. Goddard III, chair of Emory’s Board of Trustees and of the PSC, “We wanted someone with deep experience leading a major research university and a stellar record of scholarship. We also sought an inspirational leader and a person of impeccable character. Greg Fenves embodies all that we hoped to find.”
the first new medical school at a top-tier research university in nearly 50 years.
For the past 12 years, Fenves has had a tremendous impact on UT Austin, serving first as dean of the engineering school, then as provost and finally as president. Under his leadership, UT Austin launched
After 24 years as part of Emory University, however, Sterk is not quite ready to say goodbye; she will return to the faculty of the Rollins School of Public Health, continuing to invest in her passion for public health.
“The next decade will be critically important in the evolution of Emory as one of the nation’s eminent research universities,” Goddard said. “The board believes with Greg Fenves as our next president, we will have the key components to make significant advancements as an institution.”
KAREN SEDATOLE NAMED INTERIM DEAN Karen Sedatole, Goizueta Advisory Board Term Professor of Accounting, has been appointed interim dean of Emory’s Goizueta Business School, effective May 30. In making the announcement, Jan Love, interim provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, said, “The Goizueta community will benefit from Karen’s understanding and support of the school’s approach to providing academic expertise and research in business partnerships that benefit society.”
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Sedatole joined the school in 2017 and has immersed herself in many aspects of academic administration. She currently serves as one of five faculty area coordinators and is a member of the Personnel and Executive Committees for Goizueta. Her areas of research include executive compensation, performance evaluation, reward systems, performance measures and interorganizational collaboration. Her emphasis is on interweaving human behavior with business analytics and processes. “I am excited about the learning opportunities on the horizon as we leverage the collective knowledge of the faculty, staff, students and alumni
to continue the forward trajectory of Goizueta Business School, even during these unprecedented circumstances,” Sedatole said. “I am deeply committed to advancing the school’s strategic plan, and I am eager to reconnect with former students and engage with alumni.” Sedatole holds a PhD in business administration from the University of Michigan, an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin and a BS in engineering from Baylor University. Sedatole succeeds Erika James, who announced in February 2020 that she had accepted the position of dean at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
