Wagner College has named Aarti S. Ivanic, Ph.D., as the new Dean of its Nicolais School of Business, following a nationwide search.
Ivanic is the academic director of MBA programs at the University of San Diego (USD) School of Business, where she oversees curriculum, academic program review and accreditation. She also provides support for the student recruiting and program admissions team.
Ivanic has been a tenured associate professor of marketing at USD since 2017 and was an assistant professor from 2010 to 2017. She earned her Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and her master’s and baccalaureate degrees from Purdue University.
At the University of San Diego, Ivanic has chaired the University Senate (2018-20) and was faculty director of the Ashoka Changemaker Faculty Fellows Program (2017-19). She participated in two strategic planning groups for the USD School of Business (2016-17), championing the inclusion of business analytics as a key strategic priority and identifying faculty performance metrics.
“Dr. Ivanic is a perfect fit for Wagner College and the Nicolais School of Business,” said Wagner College President Joel W. Martin. “She is a builder and a collaborator with great insight into the future of business education. As we develop high-impact programs that will attract students from around the world, I can’t imagine a better leader and community partner.
“I was struck by the breadth and depth of support from the search committee, faculty, staff, students and board members who attended the vision talks,” Martin said. “Dr. Ivanic’s energy and values resonated with the entire community and we are all eager to welcome her as part of the Wagner family.”
During her vision talk to the Wagner College community on March 30, Ivanic made several observations about business development and how to successfully educate the next generation of entrepreneurs and business leaders.
“You have to be innovative in order to be successful.” she said. “Being able to pivot has become really important across business programs and the business world.”
Regarding the future of business education, Ivanic said, “I think universities need to think very critically about the value that we contribute to society. Mindfully building this value proposition into our curricular and co-curricular activities will help us prepare the next generation of ethical and socially responsible business leaders.”
Joan Nicolais, chair of the Wagner College Board of Trustees, said, “On behalf of the entire board of trustees, we are excited to welcome Aarti to Wagner as the Dean of the Nicolais School of Business. Her education in economics, business management and applied statistics at Purdue, along with her consulting experience at Booz Allen, have clearly trained her to be business-minded, execution-oriented and a strategic thinker. She has her pulse on the skills the marketplace is demanding today so that we can refresh our curriculum and internships to support our business students for the future.”
With regard to her appointment, Dr. Ivanic said, “I am honored to be selected as the Dean of the Nicolais School of Business. I am excited to join the Wagner team and I look forward to collaborating with members of the college community and external partners to continue to build upon the school’s successes.”
