Originally Published - 28 June 1999

Warwick Business School has announced that its new Dean is to be Professor Howard Thomas, currently Dean of the College of Commerce and Business Administration at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His appointment coincides with the commencement of a major £15m capital building programme by Warwick Business School, following another successful year of development.

Professor Thomas has been permanent Dean of the College of Commerce and Business Administration at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) since May 1992 having served as Interim Dean from May 1991. Prior to his current appointment he was Foundation Professor of Management at the Australian Graduate School of Management, Australia's national business school in Sydney, New South Wales, and Director of the Doctoral Program at London Business School. He has also held visiting and permanent appointments at a range of Institutions including the European Institute of Management in Brussels, the University of Southern California, the University of British Columbia, Melbourne Business School, the Sloan School of Management, MIT, and the Kellogg School, Northwestern.

Notes to Editors: Professor Thomas is a US citizen but was born in Wales, and educated at London University (MSc. and BSc.) and Edinburgh University (PhD). He also has an MBA from the University of Chicago. He is internationally recognised as a leading expert in strategic management theory. He is currently President of the Strategic Management Society, Chair of the Board of the Graduate Management Admissions Council and a Board Member of the State Farm Federal Savings Bank. He was recently elected a Fellow of the Academy of Management in the U.S. In 1990 he received the award for Excellence-in-Graduate-Teaching from the Commerce Alumni Association and was elected as a Distinguished Senior Scholar of the University of Illinois in 1986 and James F. Towey Distinguished Professor of Strategic Management in 1987. He is author or co-author of a number of acclaimed management books which include: The Anatomy of Decisions, Risk Analysis, Managing Ambiguity and Change, Strategic Groups, Strategic Moves and Performance, Entrepreneurship: Perspectives on Theory Building, Dynamics of Competence-Based Competition and Drugs to Market. He has also published a wide range of articles in areas which include competitive strategy, risk analysis, strategic change, international management and decision theory. Professor Thomas will take up his position at Warwick in May 2000 following the completion of the academic year in the University of Illinois.

For further details please contact:

Professor Howard Thomas
Email: lthomas20@aol.com