McCombs Announces New Interim Dean to Start This Summer
Red McCombs School of Business at University of Texas at Austin is getting ready for some massive changes. Beginning September 1, 2015, Associate Dean Laura Starks will assume the role of interim dean. Starks’ new position was announced to faculty, staff and students on March 26 in an email from Greg Fenves, provost for the University of Texas at Austin.
Starks will hold the role of interim dean during the search for a permanent replacement for the position being vacated by Thomas Gilligan. Gilligan will be moving to Stanford University’s Hoover Institution think tank after having served seven years as head of McCombs.
Starks assumed her current role as the school’s associate dean for research in 2011. She received her PH.D. in finance from UT before serving on the faculty of Washington University in St. Louis. After leaving St. Louis, Starks joined McCombs faculty as an associate professor. She is also the director of the AIM Investment Center, which integrates financial research, investment education and practice at UT.
While the role is only temporary, Starks seems ready to assume the position.
“I’m honored to assume this role, having a love for the school and a deep appreciation for the teaching and research excellence at the university,” says Starks. “The foundation has been laid for inspiring advances in business education.”
Starks is an independent director for CREF Retirement Accounts and TIAA-CREF Mutual Funds and has also served on the editorial boards of almost two dozen academic journals. A more complete description of Starks’ qualifications is available on her university directory page.
