Judy Olian

President, Quinnipiac University

Judy D. Olian, PhD, has served as president of Quinnipiac University since July 2018, an institution with approximately 9000 undergraduate and graduate students, eight professional schools, a College of Arts and Sciences, and 21 Division I athletic teams. The University is in the midst of program expansion and renewal for both traditional and adult learners, attraction of diverse communities, development of innovative corporate partnerships, and construction of an ambitious set of capital projects. Among its distinctions are the Quinnipiac University Poll, deep and broad excellence across
the health sciences, and graduates who achieve among the very best employment outcomes in the country.

Before joining Quinnipiac University, Olian served as dean of UCLA Anderson School of Management and John E. Anderson Chair in Management for 12.5 years. Under her leadership, UCLA Anderson hired a record number of faculty, expanded its prestigious Board of Visitors, and raised over $450 million for students and faculty support, innovative programming, and capital improvements.

Prior to that, Olian was dean and professor of management at the Smeal College of Business Administration at Pennsylvania State University, and professor and senior associate dean at the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. Olian served also as the chairman of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International), the premier business accrediting and management thought leadership organization in the world.

Olian’s research has centered on human resource strategy, top management team composition, and the business alignment of management systems. She wrote a weekly syndicated newspaper column, hosted a monthly television show on current topics in business, and has consulted for major corporations.

Olian serves on, or has been a member of, various non-profit boards including the U.S. Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, Peking University Business School’s International Advisory Board, the Connecticut Workforce Council, AdvanceCT, the Business-Higher Education Forum, New Haven Promise, Hartford Healthcare, Catalyst — a leading global think tank for women in business, and the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.  She also chaired the Loeb Awards for Business Journalism.

Olian serves on the boards of three publicly traded companies: Ares Management, L.P., a global alternative asset management firm, United Therapeutics, an advanced biotech company, and Mattel, Inc., a multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company. Born and raised in Australia, Olian received her B.S. in psychology from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Industrial Relations from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.