Ronald C. Anderson, who heads Temple University’s Fox School of Business, will step down next June after a ranking scandal came to light in 2018, the university announced Tuesday.
Professor and Chair of the Finance Department, Anderson was appointed Interim Dean in July 2018 following the dismissal of then Dean Moshe Porat. Moshe Porat was later sentenced to 14 months in federal prison for providing false information to the United States. News and World Report. Dean of Sports, Tourism and Hospitality, Anderson assumed a permanent position in 2019.
“The school needed a calm, steady voice to move it forward,” Chancellor Gregory Mandel said in an email to the campus community. Over the past four years, he has helped guide the school through unprecedented challenges and uncertainties, working to regain the trust of his peers and rebuild the school’s reputation.
» Read more: Former Temple business school dean sentenced to 14 months in prison for ranking scandal fraud
Mundell said the school is planning a nationwide search for a new dean.
Joining Fox in 2012, Anderson previously worked at American University for more than 10 years and before that in business. He is an expert in internal control systems, corporate governance and executive compensation and will remain a professor after his tenure ends.
» Read more: Interim dean of Temple Business School promoted to permanent position
He took up the job at a time of controversy at the school, which has about 7,200 undergraduate and graduate students and employs about 500 faculty and staff. His online MBA program was ranked number one in US News and World Report for four years in a row before the school reported that it was submitting inaccurate information.
Government and criminal investigations ensued, with Temple claiming to have cost millions in legal settlements with state and federal investigators and former students that had their degrees devalued.
» Read more: Temple business school ready to ‘close this ugly chapter’ after former dean convicted in ranking scandal
Under Anderson, Fox overhauled how ranking data was collected and submitted, and its accuracy was checked by reviewers inside and outside Fox. In an interview last December after Porat was convicted by a jury, Anderson told the Inquirer that the school’s focus is on student and educational innovation, research, and an inclusive culture.
“The rankings are great, it’s great to be high, but that’s not the goal,” Anderson said at the time. “It should be a by-product.”
He also led the school’s recertification process and oversaw the school’s launch of MBA-level courses in virtual reality and the opening of the Center for Ethics, Diversity, and Work Culture.
