New Dean Chosen For Indiana’s Kelley School Of Business

After he served a two-year stint as vice dean of the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University today (February 25) named long-time accounting professor Patrick E. Hopkins its new dean. Hopkins will succeed Dean Ash Soni on March 17.

The decision to tap Hopkins for the role is not unexpected. Three months ago, Poets&Quants predicted that Hopkins had the edge when the school announced that its search for a new dean would be narrowed to insiders. For many years, Hopkins has shown a remarkable depth of knowledge about the school’s many programs in undergraduate, graduate, online, and in-person offerings.

Hopkins, 61, has spent nearly 30 years of his professional life at Kelley, after earning his Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Texas in Austin. He joined Kelley as a full-time accounting professor in 1995 and has since held several leadership roles, as chair of graduate accounting programs and chair of Kelley’s large undergraduate program. For nine months before his promotion to vice dean in 2023, Hopkins served as executive associate dean for academic programs.

“I am honored but simultaneously humbled and energized because I have been in the trenches here with Ash and part of the process,” Hopkins told Poets&Quants in an interview. “Now you get out of the nuts-and-bolts of execution and you start to think about the larger university community and the Kelley community.”

‘HIGHER EDUCATION IS FACING TREMENDOUS HEADWINDS’

Though the Kelley School is on a solid footing, with more than 15,000 students and over 133,000 living alumni, Hopkins is well aware of the major challenges confronting universities. “Higher education is facing tremendous headwinds,” says Hopkins, citing increased competition from alternative credential providers and “the public perception of the devaluation of higher education. We need to make sure we are fully cognizant of those threats. We are an important partner to the rest of the university and take that responsibility very seriously. We will only benefit from being a better partner with IU by breaking down the silos to improve the value of the university.”

The school is also making heavy investment in technology to stay ahead of the curve in the use of artificial intelligence.  Right now there is a race to stake the claim of being an AI school,” adds Hopkins. “We are leaning into that and that is a big challenge but also a massive opportunity to set ourselves apart. There is a value add in introducing these technologies throughout the curriculum.  These are skills that have to be part of everything we do. That is turning a big ship. We have been investing into systems that can be an asset to our faculty to analyze data that can’t be used on these publicly accessible models.”

Hopkins says he views the university’s Indianapolis campus as a major opportunity for enrollment growth, along with making it easier for undergrads to access Kelley’s vast portfolio of graduate business programs and greater penetration of the executive education market.

‘WE WILL BRING THE FULL FORCE OF BLOOMINGTON TO THE INDIANAPOLIS MARKET’

He noted that Purdue University’s Mitch Daniels School of Business is currently expanding in Indianapolis. “The school is attempting to stake a claim there,” says Hopkins. “They are being extremely aggressive about having the public perceive that they are a viable player in Indianapolis. Kelley has been there for 50 years. We will bring the full force of Bloomington to that market to make sure that in joining with the faculty there we can really demonstrate the economic impact we can have.”

Many undergraduates now come to university with 20 to 30 college credits, he notes. “It is good to say to them that you can get a BA and an MA in four years,” says Hopkins. “We are seeing nice uptake in those accelerated master’s programs, and I anticipate that will be a good source of growth for the university as well. Most enrollment growth will have to be on the graduate side and there is a lot of potential in executive education. Universities today are looking for non-traditional revenue. If we go across some interdisciplinary boundaries, we will continue to push into that opportunity.”

Hopkins, whose wife Leslie Hodder is a full professor in Kelley’s accounting department, boasts an extensive academic background. His research focus has centered on professional judgment, decision-making and the effects of accounting and auditing in capital markets, He earned a doctorate in accounting from the University of Texas at Austin, with minors in psychology and statistics, and holds both a master’s and bachelor’s in accountancy from the University of Florida, graduating with the highest honors. Hopkins is also a Certified Public Accountant, having earned the Elijah Watt Sells Award in 1987.

‘IT’S AN EXHAUSTING ROAD TO GET TO THIS POINT’

“We are excited to welcome Pat as the new leader of the Kelley School of Business,” said IU Bloomington Provost Rahul Shrivastav in a statement. “As dean, he will be pivotal in strengthening Kelley’s reputation as an entrepreneurial, globally minded leader. Aligned with the IU 2030 Strategic Plan, Kelley will continue to expand its impactful corporate partnerships and provide students with unparalleled experiential learning opportunities, ensuring they are prepared to lead in an ever-evolving global marketplace.”

Asked how he will celebrate his appointment, Hopkins laughed. “I haven’t even thought that far,” he says. “These things are never sure until they are done. It’s an exhausting road to get to this point. But it is just a great opportunity. One of the blessings of entering this type of role is you get exposed to our amazing alumni base and get to interact with our staff and faculty like I have never done before. You get to work with the larger fabric of the university. It is energizing. These are all gifts.”

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