By Darryl Geddes
Alan G. Merten, the Anne and Elmer Lindseth Dean of Cornell's S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management, has been named president of George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. He will take office July 1.
Merten, who also holds an appointment as professor of information systems, has served as dean of the Johnson School since 1989.
"All of us at Cornell congratulate Alan Merten on his selection as president of George Mason University, and we wish him and his wife, Sally, every good fortune in this next step in an excellent career," said Cornell President Hunter Rawlings. "His leadership and guidance have enabled the Johnson School to strengthen further its reputation as one of the nation's premier institutions of business education. He has been a fine dean, and I have every confidence that he will be an excellent president. I look forward to working with him at the national level."
Cornell Provost Don M. Randel added his congratulations to Merten's announcement: "As dean and professor, Alan Merten has provided faculty, staff and students with an environment that encourages and supports excellence in all areas. He has provided distinguished leadership not only to the Johnson School but also to many universitywide endeavors, including strategic planning. His unyielding support to Cornell will be greatly missed."
"I will be forever grateful for the friends I made at Cornell and for the support that so many people gave to Sally and me," said Merten, who will become the fifth president of George Mason University. "We look back upon this period of our lives with the belief that we were able to benefit from as well as contribute to an incredible institution."
Under Merten's leadership, the Johnson School has been successful in raising funds to create endowed professorships to attract the best and brightest faculty. In addition, the school, with support from friends and alumni, completed a successful capital campaign that will ensure the school's move to a worldclass facility. During his tenure, Merten has strived to augment the presence of the business world in the classroom by increasing the number of corporate executives interacting with students and faculty.
Throughout his deanship, Merten has subscribed to a theme of diversity within business education, encouraging students, administrators, professors and corporate executives to conceive and inculcate diversity.
Merten's other service to Cornell includes membership on the Strategic Planning Task Force, the Budget Planning Task Force and the Quality Improvement Program Council. He served as chair of the Information Technology Review Team and the Entrepreneurism and Personal Enterprise Program.