I don’t often blog these days (well, write blog posts here anyway!) but this bit of news seemed worth reporting.  Catholic University has created a new School of Business and Economics, and its new Dean is the author of an excellent and illuminating article on the economy of the Shire that was published in StAR a year or so ago.  (I believe the exact issue was Sept./Oct. 2011.  We don’t have the PDF up on this site, but it’s shared with permission here.)

Anyroad, the announcement of the appointment is below.  Little rays of light …

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The Catholic University Of America

Office of the President

Washington, D.C. 20064

JANUARY 18, 2013

Just 10 days ago, Catholic University announced the creation of a new School of Business and Economics. Today, I am happy to report that I have appointed Dr. Andrew Abela dean of the school.

Dean Abela joined the faculty 10 years ago and served as chair of the previous Department of Business and Economics in the School of Arts and Sciences since 2009.  He is an expert on the integrity of the marketing process, including marketing ethics, Catholic social doctrine, and internal communication. His articles have been published in several academic journals and in two books. He is the co-editor of A Catechism for Business: Tough Ethical Questions and Insights from Catholic Teaching, forthcoming from Catholic University of America Press.

In 2009, Dean Abela won the Novak Award, a $10,000 prize given by the Acton Institute for “outstanding intellectual merit in advancing the understanding of theology’s connection to human dignity, the importance of the rule of law, limited government, religious liberty, and freedom in economic life.”

Dean Abela previously worked as brand manager at Procter & Gamble, management consultant with McKinsey & Company, and managing director of the Marketing Leadership Council of the Corporate Executive Board. He continues to consult with several leading companies, including Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase, and Wrigley’s, on internal communication. 

He holds a B.Sc. from the University of Toronto, an M.B.A. from the Institute for Management Development in Switzerland, and a Ph.D. in marketing and ethics from the Darden Business School at the University of Virginia.

The recent announcement of the new virtues-based business school has garnered attention from numerous media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, Catholic New Service, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Washington Business Journal. That’s a tribute not only to the visionary idea for the school but also to the person who has played the key role in crafting and articulating that vision. We look forward to a great future for the school under Dean Abela’s leadership.

John Garvey

President