Dean of the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University since August, Dr. David Thomas is a rarity — he is an African-American and he leads a top business school. He has taught at Harvard Business School and, before that, the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. He has co-written two books, Breaking Through: The Making of Minority Executives in Corporate America and Leading For Equity: The Pursuit of Excellence in Montgomery County.
DI: How did your previous career prepare you to be dean?
DT: I’ve spent my career looking at such issues as how companies develop, in particular, executives of color, how organizations change, what difference the leadership makes. These things are essentially what I am about today in this role, dean of a school that is very diverse and in the process of moving to the next level, which means change. I sit in my seat as an African-American executive.
I’ve had a successful career prior to coming here, which gives me credibility as an academic. I’ve won the highest awards in the Academy of Management. I’ve also been a department head and senior associate dean at Harvard.
DI: How does your position as an African-American dean of Georgetown’s business school fit into the history of that deanship and also nationally?
DT: If you look at the top 25 business schools as ranked by U.S. News & World Report or Businessweek, there are only two African-American deans, myself and Peter Henry, who’s at NYU. I think Peter was the first, and I’m the second — at least that I’m aware of. In that sense, it is significant.
I’m the first African-American dean at McDonough. The other piece that makes it significant is students of color, in particular, African-Americans, tell me it makes a difference to them to see someone who looks like them in this kind of leadership.
