Holly is an executive leader with deep and broad experience at the intersection of higher education and business and with a passion for advancing access to, and the quality and relevance of business education. She has more than 20 years of experience in global business education across roles at Northwestern University, The University of Chicago, and INSEAD. Beginning July 1, 2021, Holly will be Dean of the School of Business and Professor of Management at Quinnipiac University.
At Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, Holly is a Clinical Professor of Management and Managing Director of Executive Education, where she is responsible for strategy and direction of programs as well as for curricular and program innovation. She initiated the programmatic response to the COVID pandemic, including the pivot from in-person Executive Education programs to live-virtual programs and the launching of an innovative webinar series on leadership during the pandemic.
As Managing Director of Executive Education, Holly co-led the reorganization and development of the Executive Education unit and she launched an award-winning team that works with faculty and corporate partners in the development and implementation of in-person and online learning, including Kellogg’s first fully online, non-degree approach to graduate business education. Holly spearheaded Kellogg’s Advanced Management Program to prepare senior leaders for enterprise-wide leadership responsibilities, and developed SPARK, an innovative teaching incubator.
Holly pioneered innovative collaboration with faculty across Northwestern University to bring the arts and humanities into business education, such as an experiential approach to teaching leadership with a full orchestra of student musicians and using Russian literature to teach leadership.
As Kellogg’s Associate Dean of Academic and Faculty Initiatives, Holly strengthened faculty communication and culture, and fostered stronger collaboration between administrative and faculty areas at Kellogg. She coordinated both Kellogg's AACSB review process and Kellogg's participation in Northwestern's 10-year Program Review. Holly advanced faculty development and culture by leading the revival of honorary chair investitures, spearheading an integrated architecture of Kellogg's teaching support ecosystem and by chairing a Clinical Faculty working group.
Holly is an academic leader with university-wide experience. At Northwestern, Holly was appointed to the Program Review Council, the oversight body for University-wide strategic planning and continuous improvement for the schools, academic departments, and administrative units at Northwestern. At both the University of Chicago and at Northwestern, Holly has furthered the professional development of academic and administrative leaders through executive programs and individual mentorship. She also served as the academic director, working with an inter-institutional steering committee of deans to create a business school leadership development program for female faculty from across the United State — a first-of-its-kind initiative to foster a strong pipeline of future business school leaders. Holly has advanced efforts to assure inclusivity and equity for students, faculty and staff including serving as executive sponsor of Northwestern’s Emerging Leaders Program and initiating suicide awareness and prevention training at Kellogg.
Holly has worked with Global Fortune 500, government, and nonprofit senior executives helping them succeed in high-stake leadership roles and with organizational change. She has worked in the United States, Asia, South America, and Europe with organizations from numerous sectors, including financial services, healthcare, aerospace, food services, professional sports, and manufacturing. Holly stewards Kellogg’s learning partnership with the US Army, including annually mentoring senior fellows of the Army, and she participated in a rare site visit to the Army’s National Training Center at Ft. Irwin. Holly was selected to attend the National Security Seminar at the Army War College, and she mentors veterans with transition to private sector careers.
Holly has served on nonprofit boards for over 20 years and is currently the board co-chair of the Glenn Pelham Foundation for Debate Education, a nonprofit dedicated to developing the skills of conflict resolution, critical thinking, literacy and communication to underserved elementary and secondary students. She serves on the board of the Fiedler Hillel at Northwestern University, and is a recipient of the Warren Aiken Outstanding Alumni Award of the Barkley Forum at Emory University.
Holly holds a BA from Barnard College and a PhD in sociology from Columbia University. From 1993-98, she was a scholar at the Interuniversity Center for Social Science Theory and Methodology in Groningen, Netherlands. Her research and scholarly publications are in the areas of career development, knowledge transfter, and networks - including a popular piece on networking for introverts. Her current work focuses on preparing young professionals for the workplace of the future, including a recent piece in the Harvard Business Review on building effective newtorks. An accomplished educator with a passion for student-centric, experiential learning, Holly was recognized with a teaching award from Northwestern’s Business Institutions Program, and she was honored with a Northwestern Wildcat Excellence Award for her work advising undergraduate students.
