By JOHN DELLA CONTRADA
Reporter Contributor

Jerry M. Newman, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor in the School of Management, has been named interim dean of the school, effective Aug. 16.

Newman succeeds Lewis Mandell, who resigned from the position to focus on his research into financial literacy, which is part of a national campaign to improve the personal-finance skills of American teen-agers. Mandell took a leave of absence from the school to pursue his research and will return in the spring to teach as a professor of finance and managerial economics.

Provost Elizabeth D. Capaldi said R. Nils Olsen Jr., dean of the Law School, will serve as chair of the search committee, which immediately will begin to conduct a national search for a successor to Mandell.

In announcing Newman's appointment, Capaldi noted that "Jerry Newman's experience in leading the MBA program and the respect he is accorded by his peers in the School of Management and at the university will enable him to keep the school on course during the interim period."

Newman has served as a faculty member in the Department of Organization and Human Resources since 1974. He has earned several teaching honors during his tenure, including the School of Management's Distinguished Teaching Award and the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 1999, he was appointed to the rank of SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor, the highest faculty rank in the SUNY system.

An authority on the management of human resources, Newman is director and founder of the School of Management's Center for Team Performance and a charter member of the Society for Human Resources in Buffalo. He is co-author of "Compensation," the top textbook in the field, and has authored or co-authored numerous chapters in dozens of other texts.

He has chaired the school's MBA Program Committee since 1999 and previously served as chair of the undergraduate committee. He has taught in the school's Executive MBA programs in China and Singapore, and has served as a consultant for many area companies.

Newman earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Minnesota.