Yesterday, Yale SOM Dean Joel Podolny, surprised (more likelty stunned) the Yale community, when he abruptly resigned his post, effective November 1st. Podolny, Dean since 2005, will stay at Yale until the end of the year and will then join Apple, leading the launch of Apple University (likely to be a corporate education facility for Apple employees). Podolny was largely credited for reinvigorating and transforming the Yale Som; he had recently launched and led an ambitious $300 million fundraising campaign and overhauled the SOM curriculum soon after taking the reigns as Dean.
According to the Yale Daily News, Podolny seemed “apologetic” at a school-wide town hall meeting, telling students “I realize that when you woke up this morning this was not exactly the e-mail you expected today,” he said. “And I certainly realize that I’ve introduced angst into this community in a way that I didn’t anticipate, and I’m sympathetic to that.”
With trouble brewing on the job front, students cannot be pleased that the school’s leadership is changing. Nonetheless, it takes years to shape an institution, so Podolny’s impact will still be felt going forward and he will be facilitating a transition, as Professor Sharon Oster assume his duties in the interim.