Vallabh “Samba” Sambamurthy is the Albert O. Nicholas Dean of the Wisconsin School of Business (WSB) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, a role he’s held since August 2019. A leading global expert on how businesses compete in the digital economy, his work has been featured in top academic journals and books on digital transformation.
At WSB, Sambamurthy has led a significant strategic vision to transform the school’s portfolio of program offerings, enhance progress in diversity, equity, and inclusion, and expand and enrich faculty intellectual expertise. Under his leadership, WSB has launched a new hybrid professional MBA and several one-year master’s programs, redesigned its executive MBA, elevated the full-time MBA, and grown the undergraduate program. In addition, during Sambamurthy’s tenure, WSB has hired more than 30 new faculty members with expertise in emerging and in-demand fields, grown the diversity of its student body, and reached all-time highs in student career placement.
Prior to his arrival at WSB, Sambamurthy served as the Eli Broad Professor at the Broad College of Business at Michigan State University, in addition to leadership roles including the associate dean of the MBA and professional master’s programs, associate dean for outreach and engagement, and chair of the accounting and information systems department. Additionally, he held faculty appointments at the University of Maryland and Florida State University.
Sambamurthy has served on the editorial boards of premier academic journals, including two terms as editor-in-chief of Information Systems Research and leadership roles in professional associations. He has garnered several recognitions for his significant contributions to teaching, research, outreach, and mentoring, including the LEO Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Information Systems.
Sambamurthy received his PhD from the University of Minnesota, his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, and his B.E. from the National Institute of Technology (Tiruchirappalli, India).