CommonWealth Magazine - Fall 2006
With a Firm Foundation in Place, Isenberg School and Its New Dean Set to Pursue New Challenges
Dean Soren Bisgaard
On July 1, after nineteen distinguished years as the Isenberg School’s dean, Thomas O’Brien passed the baton of leadership to one of the School’s most illustrious faculty members, Soren Bisgaard. Dean Bisgaard joined the Isenberg School in 2002 as its first Isenberg Professor of Integrative Studies. His endowed professorship is one of three funded by Gene ’50 and Ronnie Isenberg on the UMass Amherst campus and charged with creating interdisciplinary synergies and programs that integrate business, science, and technology.
Dean Bisgaard has an international reputation as a scholar and consultant in the fields of statistics and quality management. An authority on Six Sigma Quality Management and applied statistics, he has been honored with numerous academic and professional awards, including the Shewhart Medal—the American Society of Quality Management’s highest honor. In 2004, he was the second recipient of the Box Medal, an award issued by the European Network for Business and Industrial Statistics, for outstanding contributions to industrial statistics. Bisgaard has done consulting work for Hewlett-Packard, Bell Labs, General Motors, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, S. C. Johnson, Mercury Marine, Philips, and Samsung-Corning.
Before joining the Isenberg School, Bisgaard was Professor of Industrial Statistics at the University of Amsterdam (2001-2002), and professor at the University of St. Gallen’s Institute for Technology Management in Switzerland, where he directed its Department of Quality Management and Technology (1999-2001). In 1999, he founded the 600-member European Network of Business and Industrial Statistics. At the University of Wisconsin, where he received his Ph.D. in statistics, Bisgaard was professor of Industrial Engineering from 1987 to 1998 and director of the Center for Quality and Productivity Improvement from 1994 to 1998.
The Isenberg School’s Management Team
In a transition year, the School’s new senior management team represents a constructive balance between continuity and change. Associate Dean of Professional Programs Eric Berkowitz continues to lead the School’s MBA programs, including their residential, professional, and online initiatives. Associate Dean Jane Miller continues to oversee initiatives involving accreditation standards, faculty development, and research.
The Isenberg School’s new Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs, Carol Barr, succeeds Dennis Hanno, who has joined Babson College as its undergraduate dean. Dr. Barr is Associate Professor and Associate Department Head in the Department of Sport Management. She received her B.S. in Athletic Administration from the University of Iowa, and M.S. and Ph.D. in Sport Management from UMass Amherst. Dr. Barr teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in college athletics, event sponsorship, event management, and organizational behavior and development. Her research interests include management issues within collegiate athletics and gender equity.
“Tom O’Brien transformed the Isenberg School in a great many positive ways. I will do my utmost to build on those accomplishments,” emphasizes Dean Bisgaard. “It is critical that we prepare our students to be competitive on a global playing field. We must equip them with the skills and mindset to succeed on international terms. Science and technology are critical drivers of business competitiveness and our standard of living. The Isenberg School will accelerate its pursuit of programs and initiatives that integrate business, science, and technology. An we will actively involve the business community.”
The New Isenberg Dean Trust
 Associate Dean Jane Miller |  Associate Dean of Professional Programs Eric Berkowitz |  Associate Dean Carol Barr |