James W. Dean Jr., a long-time UNC-Chapel Hill faculty member, has been picked as the new dean of the Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Dean’s promotion, which still requires approval in July from the UNC board of trustees, would take effect Aug. 1, executive vice chancellor and provost Bernadette Gray-Little wrote Friday in a letter to students, faculty and staff.

The selection of Dean ends an eight-month national search that started when Steve Jones, who served as dean since 2003, announced he would step down by the end of June.

Dean became a senior associate dean for academic affairs in 2007, and is a professor of Organizational Behavior and Strategy and a Sarah Graham Kenan Distinguished Scholar. Before that, he served as associate dean of executive development from 2002. And he was associate dean of the school’s MBA Program from 1998-2002.

“He will make an excellent dean and has a compelling vision for how Kenan-Flagler can become even better in the future,” Gray-Little wrote. “He is a respected teacher, researcher and industry consultant.”

Dean has participated in research projects with a number of major companies including ALCOA, Boeing, DuPont, GE and Honeywell.

He earned his PhD and master’s degrees from Carnegie Mellon University and his bachelor’s degree from Catholic University.

Get $150+ in coupons in every Sunday N&O. Click here for convenient home delivery.