The First Woman Dean of the Business School at Indiana University

Idalene Kesner has been chosen as the next dean of the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University in Bloomington. She is the first woman dean of the business school.

Dr. Kesner has been serving as interim dean since October. She had been serving as associate dean of faculty and research and holds the Frank P. Popoff Chair of Strategic Management at the business school. She has been on the faculty at the business school since 1995. Previously, she served on the faculty at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“Being selected as the dean of the Kelley School is an honor of a lifetime for me,” Dr. Kesner said. “As a graduate of the school, I can say with certainty that the successes I have had throughout my career are attributable to the great education and countless opportunities afforded to me by the Kelley School and its alumni network of nearly 100,000 living alums. The quality of the Kelley faculty and students, the support of the administration of Indiana University and the generosity of the Kelley School’s corporate partners, alumni and donors make this the top dean’s job of any business school in the nation.”

Dr. Kesner is a graduate of Southern Methodist University in Dallas. She holds an MBA and a Ph.D. in business administration from Indiana University.