Getting to Know Babson’s Dean Ward
Babson College continues to attract talented and innovative leaders, with the addition of Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students, Lawrence Ward. According to the Babson profile, Dean Ward’s role “provides strategic direction and senior management for a range of programs, services, and systems that support students’ academic, social, intellectual, and cultural development and personal well-being.”
Before Babson, Dean Ward was Associate Dean for Academic Programs in the Kogod School of Business at American University in Washington DC, where he also served as Assistant Dean and Director of Undergraduate Programs. He also worked in student affairs at UMichigan, and worked in both insurance and consulting firms.
I recently had the opportunity to catch up with Dean Ward and he expressed his excitement about bringing his past experience to his new role at Babson and he shared his goals for the future. Dean Ward was attracted to Babson because of its unique curriculum and focus on all kinds of entrepreneurship. His initial goals have been interact with people on campus to “understand Babson as an institution and the culture that exists here.” His believes that is very important to be “transparent to students, faculty, and staff” and to work to understand collaboration opportunities across campus and student satisfaction.
Some of Dean Ward’s primary goals for the near future at Babson are “Building Relationships, the Student Experience, and Empowerment.” For relationship building, Dean Ward wants to “build relationships with key constituencies on campus” to collaborate with the new leadership team, build authentic and supportive relationships with students, and build productive relationships with staff. He is interested in “building a better understanding of the key drivers of satisfaction with the student experience at Babson” by hearing from students and working with the leadership team. Finally Dean Ward believes there is great value in focusing on empowerment – “empowering the leadership team in student affairs to make positive changes, as well as empowering students to take action to improve their experience and be part of the solution.”
Dean Ward is excited for the future and expressed that “he returns to Babson each morning being able to say he made the right decision to come to Babson.” He also commented that his personal beliefs and values closely align with those at Babson. Keep an eye out for some of the exciting contributions Dean Ward plans on bringing to Babson!