Message From the Dean

I am happy to report that after a couple tumultuous years of pandemic, our School has transitioned to normal operations this spring. In a sign of normalcy our parking lots are getting full again. Many events are being held on campus and the students are walking the hallways.

We released the 18th installment of the UTD Top 100 Business School Research Rankings™ this spring. Every year more business schools across the globe enter these rankings. I am pleased that the rankings we began nearly two decades ago spurred more interest in research and led to thought leadership in management and business studies expanding around the world. I am even more pleased that the Jindal School is ranked among the top 5 worldwide.

In other rankings news, U.S. News & World Report placed our Full-Time MBA program 29th and part-time MBA program 19th in the country. These are our highest rankings to date for these programs. Furthermore, both of these programs were ranked 10th among public university programs. We at the Jindal School have always known that we provide an unparalleled educational experience to our students. Now the rest of the world is starting to take note.

I take great pride in leading an outstanding faculty that is not only productive when it comes to research, but also keeps its finger on the pulse of the business community and offers thought leadership that maintains its industry relevance year after year. An example is recent publication of a study by Dr. Brian Ratchford, professor emeritus of marketing, whose examination of the unanticipated dynamics of promoting crowdfunding donation campaigns via social media was recently published in the Journal of Interactive Marketing.

I am excited to announce that our first cohort of Jindal Young Scholars celebrated their graduation this spring. These are students who came to us from high schools in the Dallas Independent School District with a determination to succeed. They continued to persevere in their studies here for another four years. In many cases, they have become student leaders and now are UT Dallas graduates who have an advantage in the job market thanks to the support and generous donations that have come from JSOM community members. Opportunities to help current and future JYSP and other students are available through the New Dimensions fundraising campaign launched by The University of Texas at Dallas in 2021 to raise $750 million.

The Jindal School’s UTDsolv Capstone Senior Project is a program in which all seniors participate in solving real-life problems by working with businesses and nonprofit organizations. In the previous two semesters (spring and fall 2021), 1,634 students participated in 122 projects. Many leading corporations such as the Dallas Mavericks, Google Cloud and Quest Diagnostics provided projects for UTDsolv. One project we did recently for the U.S. Department of Defense was such a success that we will now be counting them among our UTDsolv clients this coming fall (see page 2, “Students Enlist in DOD Projects”)

UTDserv is our school’s program in which all our undergraduates either fulfill 100 hours of community service or work on a semesterlong project to help non-profit organizations. In the previous two semesters (spring and fall 2021), Jindal School students completed 55,051 hours of service and 1,740 projects were done for organizations such as American Red Cross, North Texas Food Bank and National Breast Cancer Foundation.

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has approved a new doctoral program to be offered for the first time in fall 2022. The Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) is intended for senior managers and executives who will work on solving problems from their organizations applying research methodologies taught by our faculty.

JSOM’s 2nd annual Undergraduate Deans’ Conference virtually brought together more than 125 deans from nearly 100 management and business schools to discuss lessons learned from educating during the pandemic. This conference not only helped us learn from experiences of our colleagues across the country but also was yet another opportunity to build the JSOM brand.

Two of our alumni have been in the news. Congratulations to Lisa Ong, MS’14, for winning the Dallas Business Journal’s Leaders In Diversity Award and to Bonnie Shea, BS’84, for being one of eight recipients of the UT Dallas Distinguished Alumni Award. Outstanding alumni such as yourselves truly bring credit to the Jindal School by making your marks on society.

In closing, I want to thank our students, faculty and staff for their outstanding efforts during the pandemic to continue our School’s march forward. To the larger community of alumni, corporate partners and other supporters, I appreciate your unending support and encouragement as we strive to continually improve in all that we do. I remain forever in your debt.

Best Wishes,

Hasan Pirkul
Dean and Caruth Chair