Dean Eli Jones completes Mays leadership team

Eli Jones, dean of Mays Business School, completed the school’s leadership team by appointing Mary Lea McAnally as Director of Innovation and Strategic Planning effective Sept. 1. McAnally has served in the position as an interim for a year. She holds the Phillip W. Ljungdahl Chair in Accounting at Mays and served as the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs from 2011-2015.

“I am pleased that Mary Lea will continue to facilitate our Strategic Planning Initiative. Together, we, Mays faculty and staff, with input from our Former Students, are crafting a vision for Mays that will unlock our potential to further rise as a nationally prominent business school known for engagement, innovation and impact,” Jones said.

During previous appointments for the school, Jones named Duane Ireland to executive associate dean, where he served in an interim capacity for the past year. Ireland is a University Distinguished Professor and holds the Benton Cocanougher Chair in Business at Texas A&M University. He joined the Department of Management in Mays in 2004. Previously, he served two years as head of the management department.

Annie McGowan was named Assistant Dean for Diversity and Inclusion. Effective Sept. 1, McGowan will head the new Office of Diversity and Inclusion. McGowan is an associate professor of accounting and has served as the director of the Professional Program in Accounting (PPA) at Mays since 2008. Mike Shaub, Clinical Professor of Accounting, will take over as PPA director.

Changes were also announced in the top administration of Mays MBA programs, which will have two academic leaders for the first time.

Finance Professor Arvind Mahajan took the lead as associate dean for graduate programs and Accounting Associate Professor Mike Kinney became assistant dean.

Mahajan, a Texas A&M faculty member since 1980, is a Texas A&M University System Regents Professor, Presidential Professor for Teaching Excellence and Lamar Savings Professor of Finance.

Kinney is a KPMG Fellow. He teaches in the MBA and Executive MBA programs and the executive development programs, and has taught in the PPA. He currently serves as coordinator of the Ph.D. Program in Accounting.

Bala Shetty, an information and operations management professor and holder of the Cullen Trust for Higher Education Chair in Business, returned to a faculty position after many years of distinguished service in various leadership roles, including serving the past year as the interim associate dean for graduate programs.