Babson College in Massachusetts has announced the appointment of Indian American academic and corporate leader Poonam Arora as the new dean of its Undergraduate School.

“Dr. Arora brings a wealth of thought leadership and experience across academia and the corporate world to this new role,” Babson Provost and Executive Vice President Ariel Armony said in a statement issued December 10. “Her student-first approach to academic leadership will ensure that Babson remains the top destination for learners seeking to make the world a better place for generations to come.”

Arora currently serves as the associate dean of faculty affairs and strategic initiatives and professor of management at Quinnipiac University. According to Babson’s announcement, she has led “strategic planning efforts within the School of Business aimed at promoting sustainable growth amid a shifting higher education landscape.”

Since joining Quinnipiac in 2022 as associate dean of faculty affairs, Arora has supported reaccreditation efforts, helped restructure the School of Business’s assurance of learning processes and standards, advanced curriculum innovation and mapping, and updated scholarly contribution expectations and support systems.

“Dr. Arora has proven to be a passionate supporter of faculty excellence and interdisciplinary approaches to the integration of liberal arts and business education,” Armony said. “That support and philosophy will pair well with proven Babson’s Entrepreneurial Thought & Action® framework.”

Before her tenure at Quinnipiac, Arora was the Capalbo Professor of Business Administration and department chair of management and marketing at Manhattan College. Her work there included scholarship and academic leadership roles such as co-director of the Center for Ethics, chair of the O’Malley School of Business Strategic Priorities Committee, and faculty representative to the Shared Governance Working Group.

“Arora brings extensive experience beyond academia to Babson’s Undergraduate School,” Babson’s statement noted, citing her leadership across corporate and nonprofit sectors. Her background includes serving as acting executive director and CFO of Working Today Inc., vice president of U.S. securitization at Citicorp Securities, senior associate at McKinsey & Company, and junior economist at the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development, it added.

According to the statement, Arora holds a bachelor of business administration in business economics, graduating summa cum laude from John Cabot University in Rome, an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, and a PhD in psychology from Columbia University.

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