Rutgers-Camden names Monica Adya its first female business school dean

The Rutgers School of Business in Camden has named its first female dean, it announced Monday.

Monica Adya, chair of the management department at Marquette University’s business school, will start in the role March 30, according to a Rutgers news release. She is a business education innovator and scholar in the area of information technology workforce issues, Rutgers-Camden said.

In her new role, she will develop academic and administrative options for the school, which has nearly 2,000 undergraduate and graduate students, as well as more than 100 full- and part-time faculty members and 25 staff.

“Dr. Adya is an exceptional administrator and scholar, and an energetic visionary,” Rutgers-Camden Chancellor Phoebe Haddon said in a prepared statement. “I am confident that she will help to advance the Rutgers School of Business-Camden as a premier center for education and business development in our region and state.

“At Rutgers-Camden, we believe that effective professional education must provide students with both a solid scholarly foundation and the practical skills to implement that knowledge. Monica Adya has an exceptional record of success in developing the type of programs that will expand opportunities for our students and for Rutgers to advance New Jersey’s business and economic growth.”

Adya succeeds Jaishankar Ganesh, who is returning to the faculty after eight years in the dean’s role.

“Rutgers-Camden provides business students with the tools they need to be innovative thinkers who creatively respond to disruptive forces,” she said in a statement. “Our students must evaluate existing practices and environments to identify opportunities for organizational transformation. Most importantly, they must become courageous leaders who are well-informed, inclusive and ethical decision-makers, who can effectively advocate for all and who can thoughtfully lead and inspire others to be righteous leaders themselves.”

Adya has a doctorate from Case Western Reserve University, a master’s from Creighton University and her bachelor’s from Shri Ram College of Commerce in India.

“The Rutgers School of Business-Camden is widely respected for its commitment to quality education and transformative student experiences,” she said. “I am honored to be given this opportunity to lead this school and build on its strong foundation of teaching, scholarship and civic engagement. I am excited to be working with Rutgers-Camden’s distinguished faculty, staff, alumni and students, and with the business and civic leaders of South Jersey and the Delaware Valley.”

Read more from ROI-NJ: