Dean of Michigan's Ross School of Business to Step Down in 2011

The dean of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor announced earlier this week that he intends to step down when his current term ends in summer 2011.

Dean Bob Dolan shared his decision in an email to the university community on Wednesday that his second and current five-year term as dean will be his last.

"My fellow deans at Chicago, Northwestern and Stanford have made similar decisions in the past year suggesting that two terms totaling ten years generally 'feels right' in this day and age," he wrote, adding that he has discussed his decision with the provost and president in an effort to help the school plan a smooth transition.

Dolan's announcement does indeed come during a time of major change among the deans of top-tier business schools. Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management just this week named a new permanent replacement for former Dean Dipak Jain, who stepped down last year. University of Chicago Booth School of Business Dean Ed Snyder made the news earlier this year when he announced that he would assume the dean's post at Yale School of Management (SOM), leaving Chicago Booth to search for a replacement of its own. Harvard Business School Dean Jay Light announced in December 2009 that he, too, would be leaving his post after five years as dean and more than 40 years as part of the HBS faculty. And Stanford Graduate School of Business Dean Robert Joss stepped down in 2009 after serving as that school's dean for 10 years.

Dolan told the Monroe Street Journal in a recent interview that coming to Ross as dean was the best move he ever made, affording him the opportunity to work with great people in a challenging and rewarding environment. During Dolan's tenure at the Ross, the school received a historic naming gift and completed a large-scale facilities project.

More information about a search process to determine his replacement will be forthcoming, Dolan added.