By Eric Neugeboren
For The Diamondback
The dean of the University of Maryland’s business school is leaving for Johns Hopkins University in just over two weeks.
Alexander Triantis, who has run the Robert H. Smith School of Business for six years, will begin in his new role as the dean of Hopkins’ Carey Business School on August 15. He wrote in a statement that he was “thrilled.”
“The [Carey] school is still relatively young and yet has shown significant growth,” he wrote. “I’m excited to be a part of that growth and to be part of a great research university pursuing so many interesting and innovative initiatives.”
Triantis has worked at this university since 1995. During his tenure, he was the chair of Smith’s finance department for five years and co-founded the Center for Financial Policy.
“The decision to leave the Smith School was made with very mixed emotions,” Triantis wrote in an email to staff. “The Smith School has been my home for a long and very special period of my life. After twenty-four years, and with many great memories and friendships, I will greatly miss being part of the Smith School community on a daily basis.”
Ritu Agarwal, the school’s Senior Associate Dean for Faculty & Research, will assume the role of interim dean Aug. 15. The university will then conduct a nationwide search to find Triantis’ successor.
Within the next year, Agarwal said she hopes to expand the school’s business minors and encourage students to adapt to the changing business world.
“It was certainly a surprise,” Agarwal said. “But I accepted because I was honored by the opportunity to serve the school that has been my academic home for the past two decades.”
