Stefanie Lenway, who has 30 years of experience as a business researcher and university administrator, has been recommended as the new dean of MSU’s Eli Broad College of Business and Eli Broad Graduate School of Management.

Lenway’s appointment is subject to approval by the Michigan State University Board of Trustees. If approved, her appointment would be effective Aug. 1, 2010. It is scheduled to be on the agenda for the board’s February meeting.

Lenway, 59, has served as dean of the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Business Administration since 2005. She would become the 10th dean – and the first female dean – in the history of MSU’s business college, which was founded in 1944 as the School of Business and Public Service. She would replace Elvin Lashbrooke, who has served as interim dean since 2008.

"Stefanie has been described by some as being among the best thinkers in business education," MSU Provost Kim Wilcox said. "We are pleased to welcome her to the college and thankful to Elvin Lashbrooke for his service as interim dean."

During her tenure at Illinois, Lenway worked to brand the business college around entrepreneurship, innovation and international partnerships. She spearheaded the launch of the UIC International Center for Futures and Derivatives, which aims to link connections between financial markets in the United States and China. She also played a prominent role in the creation of the UIC Innovation Center, a multidisciplinary undertaking between the colleges of Architecture and the Arts, Business Administration and Engineering.

Previously, Lenway served as an administrator and faculty member at the University of Minnesota (1984 to 2005) and as a faculty member at Washington University in St. Louis (1981 to 1984).

Lenway has served as a consultant to senior managers in international firms such as 3M Co., Nokia, Applied Materials and Honeywell on topics such as how businesspeople can build global mindsets and how companies design global innovation strategies. She also has published articles on international business and is the author of two books, including "Managing New Industry Creation," which chronicles the evolution of flat screen TV technologies.

"Stefanie Lenway is a very effective advocate of bringing academic theory to the business world," said S. Cody Engle, chair of the UIC Business Advisory Council. "She cultivates rich academic environments and takes the best of the ivory tower and brings it to the world of business."

Lenway began her research career with a focus on U.S. international trade policy and the role of multilateral trade agreements in mitigating against trade protection. She went on to focus more specifically on the impact of U.S. trade policy on corporate strategy.

A San Francisco native, Lenway has a doctorate in business administration and a master’s of business administration from the University of California at Berkeley.

The Eli Broad College of Business and the Eli Broad Graduate School of Management has 140 full-time faculty members in five departments – Accounting and Information Systems; Finance; Management; Marketing; and Supply Chain Management – as well as the School of Hospitality Business, an independent, industry-specific school within the college. The college conferred 1,689 degrees in the 2008-09 academic year, including bachelor’s, master’s in business administration, specialized master’s and doctoral degrees.

Should Lenway be approved as dean, she also would hold a tenured position as a professor in the Department of Management.