News/Events

Paul Clyde, a lecturer in business economics and public policy at the Ross School of Business, has been named the new president of the William Davidson Institute. Alison Davis-Blake, dean of the Ross School and chair of the WDI Board of Directors, made the announcement on June 30.

Here is the Dean’s letter to the WDI staff:

WDI Colleagues,

On behalf of the WDI Board of Directors, I am pleased to announce the appointment of Paul Clyde as the new President of the William Davidson Institute (WDI), effective July 1, 2014. In this role, Paul will be responsible for developing strategy for the Institute, managing external relationships with a variety of stakeholders including strategic partners and funding agencies, and overseeing operations and administrative activities.

Paul’s background, skill set, and passion for studying and transforming emerging economies make him an ideal fit for this role. He is a lecturer in the Business Economics and Public Policy area at the Ross School of Business, serves as Director of the Living Business Model Initiative at Ross, and has been involved in a number of projects in emerging markets. Over the past fifteen years he has advised or run over 50 healthcare projects in twelve different emerging markets. Paul has also worked closely with WDI on collaborations with numerous institutions on the development of business education programs in Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan and projects with state-owned and private firms in India, Singapore, and Romania. He was also the inaugural director of the Weekend MBA program, which admitted its first students in 2010 under his leadership and which now admits over 80 students annually. Paul obtained his B.S. in Business from Indiana University, and an MA and Ph.D. in Economics from UCLA.

Paul will continue to be a member of the Ross School faculty and will continue to advise MAP projects on emerging economies. As time permits, he may teach courses or engage in other activities at the Ross School.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the search committee for the WDI President. The committee was chaired by Wally Hopp (who serves on the WDI Board) and also included WDI Board members Ralph Gerson of Guardian International and Ken Lieberthal of the Brookings Institution. The committee has served tirelessly over the past several months, conducting a broad search and communicating with many potential candidates. The entire WDI Board met on Friday, June 27 to discuss the final candidates and decided to appoint Paul Clyde as the next President of WDI.

On behalf of the Ross School and WDI, I would also like to express heartfelt thanks to the two individuals who have served as Interim Presidents of WDI: Bill Lanen (who served from September 1, 2013 through May 31, 2014) and Rosemary Harvey (who served from June 1, 2014 through June 30, 2014). Both of these individuals assumed the role of Interim President in addition to many other regular duties that they continued to perform. They both served with distinction and kept WDI moving forward during this time of transition. Please join me in thanking them for the excellent service.

Please join me in congratulating Paul and welcoming him as the new President of WDI.

Sincerely,

Alison

Alison Davis-Blake

Chair, WDI Board of Directors

Edward J. Frey Dean, Stephen M. Ross School of Business