U-M regents reappoint COB Dean Raju Balakrishnan and CASL Dean Martin Hershock

The University of Michigan Board of Regents have approved a second five-year appointment for Raju Balakrishnan as dean of the College of Business and Martin Hershock as dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters.

The reappointments, recommended by Provost Kate Davy, will run from July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2023.

Balakrishnan joined the College of Business (COB) as dean in 2013 and also serves as professor of management. Under his leadership, COB has experienced enrollment growth of more than 20 percent and credit-hour growth of more than 33 percent. This growth is due in part to several curricular and program initiatives as well as new partnerships with universities in China, India, Taiwan and Jordan.

The college also has introduced several new interdisciplinary programs with leading community colleges in the region. In June 2015, COB started offering its first non-degree certificates targeted toward working professionals. The number of scholarships available to COB students also has increased significantly due to several new endowments and gifts.

“It is an honor to serve as the dean of the College of Business, and I am fortunate to work alongside so many talented faculty and staff,” Balakrishnan said. “We are currently developing a five-year strategic plan to help us continue to improve upon the quality and reputation of the college, and I look forward to helping implement that plan.” 

In an email to campus announcing the reappointment, Davy noted several themes that emerged during the evaluation process, including Balakrishnan’s support of faculty and staff, his ability to lead the college financially and an increase in transparency in the college.

“I have found Dean Balakrishnan’s approach to be unfailingly fair-minded; the ‘common good’ is evident at the core of his decisions,” Davy said. “Thoughtfulness and integrity are characteristics critical in leaders and Dean Balakrishnan has demonstrated an abundance of both.”

Hershock joined the UM-Dearborn faculty in 1999. He was named dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters (CASL) in 2013 and continues to serve as professor of history.

In an email to campus, Davy called Hershock a “staunch and inspiring advocate” for higher education and the liberal arts, and said the decisions he has made in his first term as dean show his “resolve and resilience as a leader.” Under his leadership, CASL has undergone a sweeping strategic planning effort characterized by wide faculty participation and forward-looking ideas.

“Over the past several years I have found Dean Hershock’s work for the college to be as excellent as it has been challenging,” Davy said. “He has addressed difficult, long-standing issues and ameliorated them with both courage and grace.”

Hershock said the college will continue to build on the work done in the previous five years.

“I am honored to have been reappointed dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters. It is a privilege to work with such engaged and inspiring colleagues and students, and I look forward to continuing to partner with faculty, staff, students and alumni on the strategic work that is now underway,” he said. “The college's future is very bright, and I am eager to work with our incoming chancellor on behalf of both the college and the university as a whole.”