Kent Glenzer Named Dean of International Policy & Management School at MIIS

Prior to his recent appointment as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the Monterey Institute, Jeff Dayton-Johnson had been slated to take over as dean of the Graduate School of International Policy and Management (GSIPM) on January 1. Fortunately, as Dayton-Johnson subsequently commented, “the pool of talent available to us here at MIIS is truly remarkable.” On December 17, Dayton-Johnson announced the appointment of Professor Kent Glenzer as dean of GSIPM.

Glenzer’s appointment came after extensive consultation with the Faculty Senate, the GSIPM program chairs, and a wide range of other faculty and staff on the MIIS campus. Glenzer has been an associate professor in the Master of Public Administration and Master of Business Administration programs since 2011, and served as interim program chair of the MPA program last year, playing a vital role in the integration of the International Policy Studies and MPA degree programs under the umbrella of Development Practice and Policy.

Prior to coming to MIIS four years ago, Glenzer spent 23 years working for leading international nonprofit organizations, including the Peace Corps, PATH, CARE and Oxfam America. He has “always been fascinated by the inner workings of mission-driven organizations” and is a true practitioner, with firsthand experience running non-profit organizations in developing countries. He also speaks French, Portuguese, and Bamanankan.

Dayton-Johnson described Glenzer’s doctoral work was in interdisciplinary studies at Emory University’s Institute of the Liberal Arts as “a training and sensibility that particularly prepares him for GSIPM leadership. We are fortunate that Kent will be bringing this strategic savvy to the service of GSIPM’s academic programs.”

In his announcement, Dayton-Johnson also acknowledged and thanked Yuwei Shi for “five and a half years of outstanding service” as GSIPM dean. “Yuwei has been a visionary leader whose focus on innovation has helped to keep GSIPM programs at the forefront of their respective fields, while working to increase the coherence among and cross-fertilization among these programs. Yuwei furthermore contributed to the founding of several new programs and centers during his tenure as dean, in particular the Frontier Market Scouts program, which he co-founded, and the new Center for Social Impact Learning.”

Glenzer’s appointment is for a term of eighteen months, during which time a full search will be launched. Concluded Dayton-Johnson, “At a time when MIIS and Middlebury are collectively managing through a great deal of change, I’m delighted to have Kent join our academic leadership team.”