CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Jeffrey R. Brown, the William G. Karnes Professor of Finance and the director of the Center for Business and Public Policy at the University of Illinois, has been named dean of the university’s College of Business, pending approval by the U. of I. Board of Trustees at its July 23 meeting in Chicago.
Brown, who would become the college’s 10th dean, would replace Lawrence DeBrock, a noted economist and longtime University of Illinois professor and administrator who’s been dean since 2009. DeBrock will rejoin the faculty of the college, which is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding.
“Professor Jeff Brown is a nationally respected scholar in his field as well as a longtime and trusted faculty colleague here at Illinois,” said Ilesanmi Adesida, the vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost of the Urbana campus. “This is a powerful combination that uniquely qualifies him to step immediately into the role of dean and spend his time and energy leading this great college forward.
“Dean Brown is a clear and public reminder that Illinois is truly an incubator of academic leadership for the nation. Once again, after an intensive, very competitive national search, the top candidate to lead a top college was found right here in our own home.”
Brown, 47, says his experience in academia, government and the private sector has prepared him to lead the College of Business, which has the nation’s 15th-ranked undergraduate business program in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings and recently launched an online MBA program in partnership with Coursera.
“In my 13 years as a member of the business faculty at the University of Illinois, I have developed a deep appreciation and respect for our amazing students, our talented faculty and staff, and our large, successful and loyal alumni base,” Brown said. “My vision as dean is to raise our collective aspirations and create a high-performing organization that will launch us into our rightful place among the very best undergraduate and graduate business programs in the world.
“We can and will do this by developing and executing a strategic plan that aggressively supports research and knowledge creation, invests in innovative teaching and degree programs, provides an outstanding student experience and creates a compelling brand identity.”
As a scholar, Brown’s research has focused on public and private insurance markets, including Social Security, pensions and household financial decision-making. He has been published in leading economics and finance journals, including The American Economic Review, The Journal of Political Economy, The Journal of Public Economics and The Journal of Finance.
Brown is the author and co-author of numerous books. Most recently, he was co-editor of “How the Financial Crisis and Great Recession Affected Higher Education,” a collection of nine studies that presented new evidence on the nature of universities’ responses to the financial shocks of the last decade.
A member of the TIAA Board of Trustees since 2009, Brown is the associate director of the Retirement Research Center of the National Bureau of Economic Research. He is a former member of the bipartisan Social Security Advisory Board and a senior economist with the President’s Council of Economic Advisers in 2001-02.
Brown earned a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1999. He holds a master’s degree in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and bachelor’s degrees in economics and political science with honors from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
Editor’s note: To arrange interviews with Jeffrey R. Brown, call Mary Kay Dailey, executive director of communications for the U. of I. College of Business, at 217-244-8706; emailmkdailey@illinois.edu.
