Crowell School of Business Welcomes New Dean

On July 1, Biola’s Crowell School of Business welcomed Gary Lindblad as its new dean. Lindblad, who has directed the MBA program at the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine, since 2005, takes over from the previous dean, Larry Strand, who had led Crowell since its founding in 1993.

Here are six things you should know about Lindblad as he steps into the new role.

1. He spent much of the ’80s at Biola. Lindblad earned a master’s degree in Christian education from Biola’s Talbot School of Theology in 1983 and served from 1983 to 1989 as Biola’s director of student ministries, overseeing outreach, ministry and community service opportunities for undergraduates.

2. He’s worked in administration for the MBA programs of four top business schools: UC Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business; University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management; University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management; and UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. “It has long been my hope and prayer that I’d be able to bring my experiences at four top business schools back into the Christian university context,” he said.

3. He understands the importance of faith in the marketplace. “Entrepreneurs with a strong and articulate Christian faith can and should build profitable organizations that provide products and services for the common benefit of all in society as a witness to God’s goodness,” he said.

4. He wrote songs and performed with two bands in the ’80s — “Famous Last Words” and “Gary Lindblad and the Undergrads.” For the past few years he’s written and performed songs at the awards banquet for each graduating class in the MBA program at UC Irvine.

5. He’s tech savvy. Lindblad received M.A. and Ed.D. degrees from UCLA’s Graduate School of Education and Information Studies and his doctoral dissertation researched innovations in the use of computing technology in business school education. His current interests include innovations in business education, the digitally enabled music industry, and the influence social media has on all forms of education and the creative class.

6. He’s passionate about integrating business across the disciplines. “Creative things are happening in business education where two or more academic disciplines intersect, for instance where business and engineering, education or the sciences intersect,” he said. “ Crowell faculty and students have been active at the intersection of faith and business for some time, and there is more exciting work to be continued there. But when you add the disciplines, expertise and career impact of other schools at Biola, there is additional opportunity for impact.”