Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management announced Friday that it has named a new dean to lead the top-ranking business school.
Francesca Cornelli, currently the deputy dean at London Business School, will join Kellogg as its dean and Donald Jacobs Chair of Finance on Aug. 1. She will replace Kathleen Hagerty, who has served as interim dean since September when Sally Blount stepped down.
“We’re proud to welcome Professor Cornelli to Northwestern University as dean of one of the world’s premier business schools,” said Northwestern’s President Morton Schapiro in a statement. “She’s uniquely suited to take our Kellogg School to the next level—and to continue building a genuinely global model for business education and scholarship.”
Cornelli, who joined London Business School 25 years ago, has also held positions or taught at the Wharton School, the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and The London School of Economics. She has also served as an independent board member of several global corporations, including financial institutions, and is the former director of the American Finance Association.
She is currently an editor of the Review of Financial Studies, and previously served on the Board of Editors of The Review of Economic Studies and as an associate editor at the Journal of Finance.
The Kellogg School has played a part in the success of Chicago startups. Through its annual student startup competition, VentureCat, it has provided funding to notable companies, including Zcruit, which was acquired in 2017, and BrewBike, which is currently expanding.
Kellogg was ranked No. 6 on a 2019 U.S. News and World Report of the nation's best business schools. Harvard Business School and the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business tied for the No. 1 spot.
“I have always admired Kellogg as a school full of ideas, of creativity and innovation,” Cornelli said in a statement. “I am very excited and honored to join a community of such talented people. I know that together we can continue raising the bar while staying true to the Kellogg spirit.”
