Our guest today is Lily Bi, the President and CEO of AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) International, the world’s largest business school association and global accreditor; she's been in the role for nearly three years.

With more than 30 years of experience in strategy, global growth, internal audit, and technology innovation, Lily has held senior executive roles with organizations such as The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), the Internal Audit Foundation, and Kirin Holding Company across the United States, Japan, Singapore, and China.

Lily is a proponent of lifelong learning. After earning her bachelor’s degree in China, she returned to school to earn her MBA from the University of Texas at Dallas. A decade later, she again returned to school and earned her Ph.D in Business Administration from the University of South Florida.

Today, Lily shares with us the evolution of AACSB over its 110-year lifespan. Historically, AACSB has been thought of as an organization with a primary focus on accreditation. However, we’ll learn in this episode that this was not always the case, and with Lily’s leadership AACSB's mission will continue to evolve.

In this illuminating discussion, we glean Lily's thoughts on a number of topics, including:

• Teaching students to leverage AI

• The need to solve the research gap with practice

• Understanding corporate hiring needs

• The major trends she sees affecting business education

• The issues deans should be addressing as they lead their respective organizations

• Questioning the b-school’s traditional reliance on discipline-oriented structures

Learn more about Lily Bi.

Comments/criticism/suggestions/feedback? We'd love to hear it. Drop us a note.

Thanks for listening.

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Produced by Joel Davis at Analog Digital Arts

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DEANS COUNSEL: A podcast for deans and academic leadership.

James Ellis | Moderator | Dean of the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California (2007-2019)

David Ikenberry | Moderator | Dean of the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado-Boulder (2011-2016)

Ken Kring | Moderator | Co-Managing Director, Global Education Practice and Senior Client Partner at Korn Ferry

DeansCounsel.com

Our guest today, Bill Hardgrave, has had a remarkable career. After graduating with his PhD from Oklahoma State in Information Systems, he moved to the University of Arkansas where he developed a passion for Radio Frequency Identification, perhaps better known as RFID. After spending 17 years with this intense research focus, Bill’s career shifted into academic leadership as he was tapped to become Dean of what is now known as the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business at the Auburn University.

This was an abrupt shift for Bill as he had little of the traditional academic leadership background that we often think precedes these key administrative appointments. During his 7 and half year tenure, Bill was quite successful, and in January of 2018 Auburn tapped him to become Provost, a role he filled admirably during those stressful COVID years.

As of April 2026, Bill will have completed four years as President of the University of Memphis.

Over the years, Bill has developed a distinct leadership philosophy, and shares several insights with us today, among them:

- his journey from an Arkansas lab to the Dean’s desk

- the importance of relationships to successful leadership

- messaging to a shifting population

- the importance of team building and how to form effective teams

- maintaining vs building

Learn more about Bill Hardgrave.

Comments/criticism/suggestions/feedback? We'd love to hear it. Drop us a note.

Thanks for listening.

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Produced by Joel Davis at Analog Digital Arts

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DEANS COUNSEL: A podcast for deans and academic leadership.

James Ellis | Moderator | Dean of the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California (2007-2019)

David Ikenberry | Moderator | Dean of the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado-Boulder (2011-2016)

Ken Kring | Moderator | Co-Managing Director, Global Education Practice and Senior Client Partner at Korn Ferry

DeansCounsel.com

In today’s episode, we hear from Joyce Russell, the Helen and William O'Toole Dean of the Villanova School of Business (VSB) from 2016 to 2023. Under her leadership, her college strengthened faculty research output, enhanced student programs, upgraded facilities, and established programs aligned with Villanova's Augustinian mission. She expanded alumni efforts and employer connections with the college, while driving fundraising and celebrating the school's centennial year. Today, Joyce has rejoined Villanova’s faculty as Dean Emeritus and serves as a Professor of Management and Operations.

Joyce is also a Licensed Industrial & Organizational Psychologist and Executive Coach. For over three decades, Joyce served as an executive coach in the c-suite. More interestingly though, she has extended her practice over the last decade to also spend time coaching business school deans and provosts. In addition, Joyce has also set up a new program in collaboration with AACSB called “The Dean’s Journey” which we will hear about in this episode – a program intended to help deans as they start new deanships.

Joyce lends her expertise on several subjects, including:

- internal vs external salary negotiation

- the right time to negotiate

- the renewal process

- the importance of getting it in writing

Learn more about Joyce Russell.

Comments/criticism/suggestions/feedback? We'd love to hear it. Drop us a note.

Thanks for listening.

-

Produced by Joel Davis at Analog Digital Arts

--

DEANS COUNSEL: A podcast for deans and academic leadership.

James Ellis | Moderator | Dean of the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California (2007-2019)

David Ikenberry | Moderator | Dean of the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado-Boulder (2011-2016)

Ken Kring | Moderator | Co-Managing Director, Global Education Practice and Senior Client Partner at Korn Ferry

DeansCounsel.com