Warwick Business School's Howard Thomas Assumes Chair of AACSB International.

Byline: AACSB International - The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business

TAMPA, Fla., July 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- The world's most prestigious accrediting body for business schools and largest advocacy association for management education has announced its board of directors for 2009-2010. Howard Thomas, dean of Warwick Business School and Professor of Strategic Management at the University of Warwick (United Kingdom), began his term July 1, 2009, as chairman of the board of directors of AACSB International-The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

In addition to serving as Board Member (2000-2004) and vice chair-chair elect (2008-2009), Thomas's volunteer work with the association includes participation on numerous committees, most recently serving as chair of the Committee on Issues in Management Education (CIME)-the committee charged with identifying and researching primary AACSB thought leadership initiatives. He served as a member of the Ethics Education Task Force, Faculty Leadership Task Force, and the Management Education Task Force.

Thomas has also played an active role in the AACSB accreditation process by serving as a member and/or chair of several peer review teams, and a member of both the Peer Review Improvement Task Force and the Branding Task Force. As chairman, Thomas succeeds Richard A. Cosier, PhD, dean and Leeds Professor of Management at the Krannert Graduate School of Management and School of Management, Purdue University (2008-2009).

Thomas joined Warwick Business School as dean in September 2000, and is internationally recognized as a leading expert in the field of strategic management. He currently serves as chair of the Association of Business Schools (ABS) (2008-2010), the Global Foundation for Management Education (GFME) (2009), and is former chairman of the board of the Graduate Admissions Council (GMAC) (1995-2000). He is also a past president of the Strategic Management Society (SMS) (1997-2000) and in October 2005 was elected as an Inaugural Fellow.

Thomas is an honorary life member at the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), and a board member at the State Farm Bank in the United States. He is a fellow of the Academy of Management (AoM) and also of the British Academy of Management (BAM), where he served on its council. Thomas is also a fellow of the Sunningdale Institute and a member of Beta Gamma Sigma (BGS); he is also a Highly Cited Scholar in ISI Web of Science with around 2000 citations.

Thomas has served as editor, author or co-author of 30 acclaimed management books, and has published a wide range of articles in areas which include competitive strategy, risk analysis, strategic change, international management and decision theory. Born in Wales, Thomas earned a BSc and MSc from the University of London, an MBA from the University of Chicago, and a PhD and DSc from the University of Edinburgh.