Troy, N.Y. — Denis Fred Simon has been named Dean of the Kenneth T. and Thelma P. Lally School of Management and Technology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

“Dr. Simon brings his leadership and expertise in international business and global technology management to the Institute, and I am delighted that he will lead the Lally School,” said Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson. “I fully expect Dr. Simon will marshal his many resources to nurture the growth and strength of this unique and important part of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. I look forward to his vision to grow new curricula and programs that foster interdisciplinary and entrepreneurial ideas and cooperation throughout the Institute.”

Simon is President of Monitor Group China Ltd. in Beijing, where he directs the company’s strategic business development. As a key management leader, Simon guides the company’s major engagements in China. Simon also served as Managing Director of the Business Strategy and Architecture Innovation Center for Scient Corporation in Singapore. He has served as an Associate Partner and Director of the China Strategy Group at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) in China. He also served as General Manager for Andersen Consulting in Beijing, and has held faculty positions at the Sloan School of Management at MIT from 1983 to 1987 and the Fletcher School at Tufts University from 1987 to 1995. In addition, from 1980-1983, Simon served as a member of the Executive Secretariat of the U.S. Committee on Science and Technology Exchanges with the People’s Republic of China.

As dean, Simon is the chief academic officer of the Lally School, whose undergraduate business programs have consistently ranked in the nation’s top 50 by Business Week and by U.S. News & World Report. With its focus on entrepreneurship through the Paul J. ’69 and Kathleen M. Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship, the Lally School has ranked among the top 30 universities nationwide for its entrepreneurship, management of information systems, and product and operations management programs.

Simon is responsible for leading the Lally School to national and international prominence. He will develop and implement a new strategic vision for the school, promote greater national and international visibility, help to lead fund-raising efforts, and nurture collaborative relationships among faculty, students, and alumni. He also will be expected to build cooperative programs with other Rensselaer schools — a hallmark of the Rensselaer interdisciplinary spirit and focus.

“We are very pleased that Dr. Simon has decided to join us at Rensselaer,” said G. Bud Peterson, Rensselaer’s provost. “His expertise, background, and experience mesh extremely well with the goals, aspirations and mission of the Lally School, and with the goals of the Rensselaer Plan.”

The Lally School’s mission is to develop technically sophisticated business leaders who are prepared to guide their organizations in the integration of technology for new products, new businesses, and new systems. The Lally School focuses on the management opportunities and challenges associated with organizations that are driven largely by technology.

A prolific author, Simon’s key publications include: Techno-Security in the Age of Globalization (ME Sharpe, 1997); Corporate Strategies Towards the Pacific Rim (Routledge, 1996); The Emerging Technological Trajectory of the Pacific Rim (ME Sharpe, 1995); Science and Technology in Post-Mao China (edited with Merle Goldman, Harvard University Press, 1989); and Technological Innovation in China (Harper Books, 1987). The Contribution of Foreign Technology in China, co-written by Dr. William Fisher of IMD in Switzerland, is in progress.

As noted, Simon served as a professor of international business strategy and technology management at the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University from 1987 to 1995. While at Fletcher, he co-founded and directed the Global Senior Manager’s Program, an innovative initiative in executive education for experienced managers seeking to better understand the impact of globalization on corporate strategy and organization. He also was the Ford International Assistant Professor of Management & Technology at the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1983 to 1987.

Simon is a member of the American Chambers of Commerce in Beijing and Shanghai, and the Academy of International Business. He has been a frequent commentator in the media and has lectured widely regarding the issues of foreign investment and technology development in China and the Pacific Rim. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.

He received his bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at New Paltz in 1974 and earned both his master’s in Asian Studies and doctoral degree in political economy from the University of California at Berkeley, in 1975 and 1980, respectively.

Simon will begin his tenure at Rensselaer in August 1, 2002.

Contact: Megan Galbraith
Phone: (518) 276-6531
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