UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Corey Phelps, dean, Fred E. Brown Chair of Business, and professor of entrepreneurship and strategy at the University of Oklahoma’s (OU) Michael F. Price College of Business, has been named the new John and Karen Arnold Dean of Penn State’s Smeal College of Business, effective July 15.
Phelps was selected following a national search and will succeed Charles Whiteman, who will retire at the end of June 2024. Phelps will report to Tracy Langkilde, interim executive vice president and provost. Steve Huddart, Smeal Professor of Accounting and senior associate dean for research and faculty in the Smeal College of Business, will serve as interim dean from July 1 until Phelps’ tenure begins on July 15.
“I am delighted to have a leader of Corey’s caliber join the outstanding team that we already have in place at the Smeal College of Business,” said Langkilde. “With his proven experience as dean of a state flagship business school, Corey has the vision and capacity to build upon the strong foundation that Dean Whiteman has established at Smeal over many years. With his emphasis on community values, his exciting ideas for collaborative initiatives, and his commitment to research and teaching excellence, I look forward to the Smeal College reaching even greater heights of success under Corey’s leadership.”
As dean, Phelps will be the principal academic and administrative officer of the Smeal College of Business, which is experiencing significant growth with its highly ranked and in-demand programs. The college houses six academic departments and a robust portfolio of undergraduate, master’s and doctoral programs, as well as many graduate certificates and executive education programs. Its more than 350 full-time faculty and staff support over 5,800 undergraduate and 1,910 graduate students. Phelps will be charged with making a positive and constructive impact in charting the evolution of the college; leading the creation of a compelling and innovative vision for the future of Smeal; growing the college’s research excellence and impact; supporting student success; and continuing to build a more equitable and inclusive community in the college.
As a member of the Academic Leadership Council and the Council of Academic Deans at Penn State, Phelps will be an institutional leader in advancing University-wide goals, including those related to implementing Penn State’s new budget model, which has shifted greater financial responsibility to individual academic units; building relationships across University Park and the Commonwealth Campuses to promote and expand interdisciplinary education and research; and, in collaboration with college and University development and alumni relations colleagues, developing, leading and supporting the college’s alumni and donor relations efforts.
“I am extremely excited to take the handoff from Chuck Whiteman and build on the momentum and foundation he’s helped create at the Smeal College,” Phelps said. “Smeal stood out for me in every way possible — it has an incredibly strong foundation of programs, centers, facilities, relationships and reputation. There is substantial momentum on multiple fronts and an energy to excel. Beyond Smeal, Penn State possesses strength after strength in its other colleges, which Smeal can both complement and benefit from. Most importantly, I’ve been thoroughly impressed with the quality, collegiality and commitment of the people I’ve met across the college and university.
“Smeal has the incredible opportunity and obligation to transform business education to prepare all qualified and motivated students, regardless of background or finances, to be the type of future-ready leaders, professionals and entrepreneurs Pennsylvania and the world need. I can’t wait to get to work on this noble effort.”
Phelps has led the Price College of Business, the second-largest and fastest-growing college at OU, since 2020. Under his leadership, in fiscal year 2023, the college generated $61 million in revenue and nearly $6 million in surplus, and it had an endowment of $192 million. Other notable accomplishments during Phelps’ tenure at the Price College include leading the creation of a five-year strategic plan; raising more than $107 million, including the largest and second-largest gifts in the college’s history; realizing a 23% increase in unduplicated total student enrollments between fall 2020 and 2023; creating a First Year Experience Office to support incoming students; increasing annual research and professional development funding; growing and diversifying the college’s faculty ranks; and developing and launching 21 new programs.
Prior to OU, Phelps served as associate dean of executive education and associate professor of strategy and organization at the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University in Montreal. Before McGill, he served on the faculties of HEC Paris and the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business. He earned doctorate and master’s degrees in business administration from New York University’s Stern School of Business, and he holds master of business administration (MBA) and bachelor of arts degrees from San Diego State University.
As a business school academic, Phelps has lived and worked in the U.S., France and Canada, and he has taught or consulted in more than 30 countries around the world. His research, which has been published in leading management journals, intersects strategy, entrepreneurship and innovation, and it has been cited more than 9,500 times. A book he co-authored, “Cracked It! How to Solve Big Problems and Sell Solutions Like Top Strategy Consultants,” was published in 2018 by Palgrave Macmillan.
Phelps is past chair of the Academy of Management Technology and Innovation Management Division and the Knowledge and Innovation Interest Group of the Strategic Management Society. In 2011, he initiated and co-founded the European Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Innovation (SEI) Doctoral Consortium.
He has delivered keynote talks, executive training programs and consulting projects for more than 75 organizations in Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. He has designed and directed numerous executive development programs, including the HEC Paris-Atos GOLD Talent Development Program, which earned an EFMD Excellence in Practice Award for best custom talent development program. For his teaching, Phelps received the Pierre Vernimmen BNP Paribas Award at HEC Paris and undergraduate and MBA professor of the year awards at the University of Washington.