Hamada reappointed, Michael once again at helm

Robert Hamada has been reappointed Dean of the Graduate School of Business, and Robert Michael has been appointed Dean of the Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies.

Hamada, the Edward Eagle Brown Distinguished Service Professor in the Graduate School of Business, was first appointed Dean in 1993. During his first term, the GSB created an international M.B.A. program for students planning careers in global business; opened a campus in Barcelona, Spain, for the GSB's international executive M.B.A. program; and began open enrollment executive education and custom corporate education. In addition, Hamada oversaw last summer's $4.3 million renovation of classrooms and other facilities on campus.

An expert on financial theory and taxation, Hamada's research interests include the interface between finance, corporate strategy and international business. A Chicago faculty member since 1966, he received the McKinsey Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1981. He served as Director of the Center for Research in Security Prices from 1980 to 1985, and as Deputy Dean for the Faculty in the GSB from 1985 to 1990.

Robert Michael, the Eliakim Hastings Moore Distinguished Service Professor in the Harris School and an expert on the measurement of poverty and family issues, will begin his term as Dean of the Harris School on March 30.

Michael succeeds Don Coursey, Ameritech Professor of Public Policy Studies in the Harris School, who stepped down last month to devote more time to teaching and research, as well as to family responsibilities. Norman Bradburn, the Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor in Psychology and the Harris School, will continue to serve as Acting Dean in the interim.

This is Michael's second appointment as Dean of the Harris School. He was the school's first dean, from 1989 to 1994, during which time he helped establish the Harris School as a leading research center on public policy.

A faculty member since 1980, Michael has conducted pioneering research at the University. As one of three principal investigators on the National Health and Social Life Survey, he helped oversee the nation's first comprehensive scientific study of sexual practice. That work lead to the publication in 1994 of two books: The Social Organization of Sexuality and Sex in America.

He also served as chairman of the National Research Council's panel studying the measurement of poverty, which resulted in the 1995 book Measuring Poverty: A New Approach.

Since 1995, Michael has been principal investigator of the new U.S. Department of Labor Survey of Youths, an annual National Opinion Research Center survey that tracks young men and women as they complete schooling and enter the labor force.

In addition to his faculty appointment, Michael served as Director of NORC from 1984 to 1989 and as Deputy Director of the University of Chicago/Northwestern University Joint Poverty Center when it was established in 1996-97.