Leadership transition for SMU Cox

A Message from Dean Matthew B. Myers:

The Cox School of Business has much to be proud of, and I want to share with you how proud I am to have been entrusted with leading this great school seven years ago. As we prepare to move into the new David B. Miller Business Quadrangle and launch a new era at Cox, I feel this is the right time to make way for the next dean to take the helm. I have decided to step down as dean no later than the end of the 2024-25 academic year.

With the opening of the new Miller Business Quad, and with so many successes over recent years to build upon, 2025 will be the perfect time to bring in a new dean with fresh ideas and experiences, one who will enable Cox to continue its steep ascent in the national dialogue of business education. I plan to stay in my role until the University has a new dean in place.

Once the tenth dean of the Cox School comes aboard, I’ll take a sabbatical for a few months. Afterward, I plan on returning to the Cox School faculty as the David B. Miller Endowed Professor in Business.

As I’m sure you can imagine, this decision comes with mixed emotions. Serving as dean of the Cox School has been an honor and the highlight of my career. I want to convey my great appreciation for the privilege of serving in this role, and also for the wonderful friendships that both Gina and I have developed here over the years.

In 2017, we synthesized our goals at Cox into four major categories: Build the Brand, Build the Programs, Build the Building, and Build the Endowment. We set an aggressive target to meet these goals in ten years. Instead, we have met them in seven, achieving the following together:

• Record-setting enrollment in the BBA program from the standpoint of both class size and the academic quality of students. In 2017, Cox BBAs represented roughly 26% of the undergraduate class at SMU. Today, it is roughly 41% and continues to rise.

• Record-setting enrollment in graduate programs from the standpoint of both enrollment and quality, doubling the size of the graduate student class.

• The launch of the Cox Online MBA, MBA Direct, the rebuilding of the MBA curriculum, and the launch of the MS in Real Estate program this fall.

• Expansion of the Cox brand, as indicated by the dramatic increase in BBA applications nationwide and our rankings. Our BBA program currently ranks Number 26 in the nation. Our Full-Time MBA rankings have risen from the low 50s to Number 34 in US News & World Report and Number 27 in Bloomberg Businessweek.

• Record-setting fundraising, with over 300 million dollars raised for Cox during this campaign. During the entire previous Unbridled campaign, Cox raised 105 million dollars. This metric alone is indicative of the trust and confidence that donors have in the School’s dedication to students and research.

• Since 2017, we have successfully navigated through the conceptual, design and fundraising stages, and the completion of the Miller Business Quadrangle, with classes set to begin in the Miller Quad this August.

The list could continue, focusing on functions that have increased diversity, developed new revenue streams in the form of investment funds, strengthened strategic corporate relationships, enhanced student placement and starting salaries, and more. And of course, all this against the backdrop of a global pandemic.

None of this would have been remotely possible without support from the SMU Cox community, for which I will always be grateful. Until the next dean arrives, I look forward to advancing both SMU and Cox, setting the stage for success in the next era of the Cox School of Business.

Matthew B. Myers
Dean, Cox School of Business
Tolleson Chair of Business Leadership
David B. Miller Endowed Professor of Business

Read the SMU public release