Bio: Andrew J. Policano, Kuechenmeister Professor of Business and former dean of the School of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has been named dean of UC Irvine?s Graduate School of Management, effective Aug. 1, Chancellor Ralph J. Cicerone has announced. ?We are extraordinarily pleased that Andrew Policano has accepted our offer to lead GSM,? said Cicerone. ?His extensive experience in business school leadership ? including creating highly successful new programs and building endowments ? will greatly benefit both GSM and the surrounding business community.? Policano served as dean of the UW-Madison School of Business for 10 years before stepping down to rejoin the faculty in the Finance Department. As dean, he oversaw major enhancements of the school?s leadership position in the business community, doubling the number of companies recruiting its graduates and leading development of the Executive M.B.A. and Evening M.B.A. programs. During his tenure as dean, the School of Business? endowment rose from $6 million to more than $95 million. In 2000, the school raised more than $11 million, the largest annual total in its history. ?UCI is widely recognized as a first-class academic environment that has achieved remarkable success in its relatively short history, and GSM has all the attributes of a truly distinguished business school ? excellent faculty, students and staff, successful alumni and an engaged business community,? Policano said. ?Many business schools are currently attempting to compete for the top, but few have the attributes and potential to be successful at that level. UCI is certainly among that small group, and I am delighted to be joining the school at this critical point in its development.? Interim Dean Jone Pearce agreed with Chancellor Cicerone. ?Andy comes to us with an outstanding track record in developing a successful business school,? said Pearce. ?He is an outstanding scholar, and he understands how to build on the existing strengths of a nationally reputed business school. I am sure that with his leadership we will grow in quality, support and in reputation.? Policano was the guiding force behind the Fluno Center for Executive Education, a state-of-the-art facility at UW-Madison that hosts many of the business school?s intensive, short-term programs. The center, which receives no state funding, is financed through an innovative combination of equity from private donations and bonding. Program revenues are used in part to pay off external financing and net revenue is donated to the School of Business. ?The key to building any great enterprise is outstanding leadership. We have run an extensive national search to find a leader of that caliber, and I believe we have found it in Andy,? said Chuck Martin, managing partner for VentureLab, LLC and co-chair of the GSM Dean?s Board of Directors. ?UCI's Graduate School of Management is already an excellent business school, but with the new leadership of Dr. Policano, it will advance on a path to distinction as one of the top business schools in America.? Policano is a director of the National Guardian Life Insurance Company, Badger Meter, PIC Wisconsin and a member of the Madison Community Foundation?s Investment Committee. He was recent chair of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business? Blue Ribbon Committee on Accreditation, which significantly enhanced the standards and process for business school accreditation, and served on Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson?s Glass Ceiling Commission from 1995-2000. He also served as senior associate dean for academic affairs at the University of Iowa and dean of social and behavioral sciences at State University of New York at Stony Brook. He has published extensively in the areas of financial institutions and markets, macroeconomics, monetary theory and policy, and business school trends. ?I am delighted at the outcome of the GSM dean?s search,? said Philippe Jorion, professor of finance and chair of the search committee. ?We had high standards that were at the level of our aspirations for GSM, and Andy Policano is a leader with energy and vision who will help us achieve these aspirations.? Policano received a bachelor?s in mathematics from SUNY at Stony Brook, and master?s and doctoral degrees in economics from Brown University.