Meet ISM’s Dean and Director of Doctoral Research. Five questions — read in less than 5 minutes.
Get to know ISM’s dean, Dr. Matthew Andrews, who previously served as ISM’s Academic Director and began this role as dean at the end of 2021. With this new appointment comes many other changes at ISM, including the appointment of four department chairs and changes to the international coursework structure Dr. Andrews is embracing these new changes as he leads the next chapter of the institution’s evolution. Learn more about him in this quick interview below.
What do you find most rewarding about working in academia?
I enjoy that critical thinking and reflection are central to working in academia. And I feel privileged to work with such an interesting and diverse student body; I particularly enjoy interacting with students in person in the classroom and at events.
When did you first join ISM and how has it changed since you started?
I worked with the founder, Professor Jack Forget, in the late 90s, to develop an executive MBA program; we offered one of the only internationally-oriented MBA programs located in Paris which was taught entirely in English. Most students were French executives - courses took place in Paris throughout the year and in New York in the summer. The period from about 1999 to 2005 was a very dynamic time for globalization–European integration was in full swing, the Euro was adopted as the official currency in 2002. Global trade and cooperation and international career mobility were on the rise and it felt like it would just keep expanding forever. The Internet was quite new, as was the concept of studying online. Then I left, and when I returned to work for ISM as Academic Director in 2012, much had changed. Our student body was much more international and the study options had become more flexible. The doctoral programs, which had just started when I left, had grown considerably. But the global economy had been rocked by financial crises, and, as we all know now, global cooperation and integration haven't exactly progressed smoothly since. While our programs could already have been considered "non-traditional," since COVID, they have become even more "non-traditional."
What do you enjoy most about working at ISM?
I enjoy helping students transform their incredibly diverse experiences and goals into projects, class assignments, and original pieces of research. I enjoy giving feedback on research projects, particularly when that feedback is effective and leads to a successful outcome. I also enjoy teaching and hopefully will do more of that in 2023.
What are you looking forward to the most in your position as Dean?
At this point, I am looking forward to a world which is either post-COVID or at least one where COVID is better managed so that it does not have such a disruptive impact on every aspect of our lives. I am looking forward to taking the lessons we've learned from this challenging period (e.g. improved e-learning practices, expanded use of video conferencing technology for nearly every kind of meeting, flexibility across the board) and applying those to a revised educational model whose point isn't just to react to a global pandemic but to offer an improved global learning experience.
What is one thing that the ISM community would be surprised to learn about you?
I record and play music as a hobby.
