Darden's Ming-Jer Chen Elected to Academy of Management

April 23, 2009 — The Academy of Management has elected University of Virginia business professor Ming-Jer Chen as its vice president-elect.

Chen has been actively involved in the Academy of Management, the most prestigious and largest scholarly management association in the world, for more than 20 years. He has served as associate editor of the Academy of Management Review and chairman of the Academy's Business Policy and Strategy division, and has sat on the editorial or advisory boards of the Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, and Harvard Business Review (China).

The Darden professor, a renowned business strategy expert widely recognized for his pioneering work in competitive dynamics – a new topic that analyzes competition from an organizational and managerial perspective – will bring an important set of skills and experiences to this leadership position.

"As a strong believer in balance and integration, I have been committed throughout my career to the pursuit of excellence on multiple fronts: scholarship, teaching, practice, and service," said Chen, who holds the Leslie E. Grayson Professorship and teaches strategy and competitive dynamics.

Over the past 20 years, Chen has worked with a variety of global 100 companies, has taught numerous programs for Darden Executive Education and other institutions, and has addressed important business forums, including the World Economic Forum in Beijing and HSM forums in Sao Paulo and Milan.

Originally from Taiwan, he has spent half his life in America, and is the author of the book "Inside Chinese Business: A Guide for Managers Worldwide," published by Harvard Business School Press.

"From the East to the West and from the margins to the mainstream, I have developed a deep appreciation of cultural and intellectual diversity, as well as the ability to see past differences to find commonality and connect views, interests and backgrounds for a unified goal," he said.

One of the challenges of Chen's new post, which is a five-year track toward the academy's presidency, will be to manage the organization's growing membership, which has increased 50 percent during the past 10 years to just over 18,000. Approximately 40 percent of members are spread across 100 different countries outside North America, and it has 24 divisions and interest groups with a diverse range of scholarly interests, as well as some 20 partner organizations around the world.

"At a time when the academy is seeking to define itself in an international context, I can offer an informed vision of how to disseminate the core academy values in a new business education landscape that is both globally competitive and globally collaborative," said Chen, who enjoys doing things to help make the world smaller, on both the professional and personal fronts.

About the Darden School of Business


Founded in 1955, the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business is a professional school that works to improve society by developing principled leaders in the world of practical affairs.

For information, contact communication@darden.virginia.

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