Last modified: Wednesday, November 5, 2003
IU professor named founding dean of Korean business school
Robert C. Klemkosky, the Fred T. Greene Professor of Finance at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, has been named founding dean of a new graduate business school at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) in Seoul, South Korea.
Klemkosky, who will retire from IU in August 2004 after 28 years of service, has made a four-year commitment to develop and grow a leading-edge master of business administration program in Asia.
"I look at this as an extraordinary opportunity to start a world-class business school from ground zero. Only a few top-rated MBA programs have been established in the last 30 to 40 years," Klemkosky said.
SKKU has a long and distinguished history that spans 605 years. Eighteen schools and three colleges offer bachelor's degrees, while 12 graduate schools confer various master's and doctoral degrees.
The Samsung Foundation is making a financial commitment to SKKU to help develop an English-language MBA program there. The Samsung Foundation also supports the law and medical schools at SKKU. The Samsung Corp. is one of the largest and most profitable international companies in the world with a major presence in electronics and finance services.
Klemkosky envisions an MBA program at SKKU modeled on the best American and European MBA programs. He says globalization will play a significant role in the program, in addition to teamwork and experiential learning. He will begin recruiting tenure-track faculty in all business disciplines in January 2004 and also will start developing the MBA curriculum. The new program will be affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Klemkosky, who received his bachelor of science and doctoral degrees in finance from Michigan State University and his MBA from the University of Michigan, has held various administrative positions at the Kelley School, including associate dean of research and operations, chair of the Finance Department and director of the MBA Investment Management Academy.
His research and teaching interests are in the areas of risk-return analysis, market efficiency and derivatives. Klemkosky has extensive international experience, having taught in France, Venezuela, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Finland, Russia, Slovenia and South Korea. He also has served as project director for million-dollar international grant projects and was responsible for Kelley School's international activities as a former associate dean. He has traveled to more than 40 countries and has visited the financial markets in many of them.
