The University announced May 3 that Ian Solomon is the next dean of the Frank Batten School of Public Policy and Leadership active Sept. 1. Allan Stam — the current Batten dean since July 2014 — will leave June 30. Craig Volden, associate dean for academic affairs — will serve as interim dean in the meantime.
“[Solomon’s] experience in government, academia and the private sector makes him the perfect person to lead Batten, which sits at the intersection of policy and practice,” University President Jim Ryan said in a press release.
A graduate of Harvard University and Yale Law School, Solomon has worked in both the public and private sectors. He worked as a legislative counsel to former President Barack Obama (D) when he was the senator of Illinois and served as a senior advisor to Timothy Geithner — the Treasury Secretary under President Obama.
He continued to work under the Obama administration as their representative to the World Bank, where he was responsible for negotiating agreements with leaders from around the world. As executive director, he started an initiative to improve global food security, supported open data and was able to increase general capital.
Solomon also has experience working in academia. He was an associate dean at Yale Law School and has taught seminars on negotiation at both the University of Chicago Law School and Yale Law School. At the University of Chicago, he served as the vice president for Global Engagement, where he traveled with teams across the world to lead initiatives in global education and international programs.
In the private sector, Solomon worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company, before founding SolomonGlobal LLC in 2012. SolomonGlobal helps organizations negotiate and facilitate agreements and as CEO, Solomon has worked with “businesses, multilateral organizations, nonprofits, academic institutions and government agencies worldwide.”
Today, Solomon serves on the Council on Foreign Relations and on the Board of Visitors at National Defense University. He is also a non-resident fellow on Africa at the Chicago Council for Global Affairs. It is currently unknown whether Solomon will continue to serve on these positions while he is dean.
“I’m passionate about the Batten School mission to cultivate ethical, enlightened leaders to serve our world,” Solomon said in an email statement to The Cavalier Daily. "This opportunity is a culmination of my experiences in public policy, the private sector and academia, and I look forward to rolling up my sleeves and getting to work with the great students, faculty, and staff at the Batten School.”
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