Show-Me State Times

Saint Louis University has announced the appointment of a new dean for the Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business. The position will be filled by Jackson Nickerson, an esteemed academic with a notable background in organizational strategy.

Nickerson is recognized as the Emeritus Frahm Family Professor of Organization and Strategy at Washington University's Olin School of Business. His career in academia began in 1996 as an assistant professor at Olin, where he later became the Frahm Family Professor in 2007. He served as associate dean and director of Brookings Executive Education at both WashU and the Brookings Institute from 2009 to 2017.

Since then, Nickerson has taken on various roles in teaching, research, and consulting. His positions include senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institute and senior fellow at the Grameen Foundation. Additionally, he holds appointments at Melbourne Business School, IE University in Madrid, Spain, and the Naval Postgraduate School's Center for Homeland Defense and Security.

“Dr. Nickerson will be a transformational leader for the institution and is committed to expanding the reach of our business programs to serve the evolving needs of business students, both graduate and undergraduate,” said SLU Provost Michael Lewis, Ph.D. “His focus on developing leaders across a number of industries, government and academia aligns well with SLU's Jesuit-inspired mission.”

Nickerson co-created Critical Thinking@Olin, which won the Innovator Award from MBA Roundtable in 2011. Throughout his career, he has received over 20 teaching honors including Missouri Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2003.

He has authored six books along with more than 85 journal articles and case studies focusing on leadership, organization, strategy with an emphasis on innovation.

Nickerson earned his Ph.D., MBA, Master of Science from UC Berkeley; his bachelor's degree came from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Before academia he worked as a control systems engineer with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

“I am thrilled and honored to serve the Chaifetz School of Business,” Nickerson stated. “The Chaifetz School of Business is on the move.”

Nickerson takes over from Barnali Gupta who was dean since 2021.

“Dean Gupta has been a strong advocate for the Chaifetz School,” Lewis commented on her tenure.

The selection process involved a national search led by SLU faculty members including Gary Ritter from SLU’s School of Education who chaired it.