Haya Ajjan named dean of the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business 

A distinguished researcher, administrator, and mentor with extensive knowledge and affinity for Elon University has been named the next dean of the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business.

Dr. Haya Ajjan’s selection to lead a business program ranked among the nation’s best by Poets&Quants follows a national search this fall that featured a talented pool of accomplished candidates representing top business schools across the United States.

Ajjan currently serves as associate dean and professor of management information systems for the Love School of Business and begins her new role on June 1, 2025, with an eye toward deepening experiential learning opportunities for students and strengthening partnerships with employers, industry leaders, and the broader community.

“Dr. Ajjan is committed to keeping Elon University at the leading edge of business education to prepare students for rewarding careers in any industry they are called to serve,” said Elon Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Rebecca Kohn. “Her vision and understanding of the importance of developing partnerships across campus and beyond will benefit the Love School of Business, and the greater Elon University community, for years to come.”

Ajjan joined Elon in 2010 and teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in data analytics and information systems. Since then, among the successful programs and initiatives to which she contributed include:

• Development of what is now the Master of Science in Business Analytics graduate program
• Establishment of the business analytics and financial technology majors in collaboration with other faculty, as well as assisting with development of the cybersecurity management minor
• Launching the Center for Organizational Analytics to bring together faculty, students and industry thought leaders to disseminate best analytics practices, solve organizational problems, and promote teaching, outreach and research in analytics
• As the Sheldon and Christine Gordon Professor in Entrepreneurship, partnering with faculty and staff across departments to infuse an entrepreneurial spirit and foster creative thinking on campus

Ajjan previously served as a Faculty Administrative Fellow in Elon University’s Office of the President. In that appointment, she collaborated on the creation and launch of the Boldly Elon strategic plan, Elon’s COVID-19 data matrix, and Elon NEXT, a continuing education and professional development program.

“Dr. Ajjan is committed to keeping Elon University at the leading edge of business education to prepare students for rewarding careers in any industry they are called to serve.”

– Rebecca Kohn, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Ajjan’s research and teaching focuses on artificial intelligence, digital business strategy, and emerging technologies, areas where she has published extensively and earned national recognition. Outside of her teaching and administrative responsibilities, Ajjan has prioritized opportunities to mentor junior faculty members, much as she describes being mentored throughout her tenure.

“Elon University has nurtured my growth, transforming me from an acorn into a thriving oak,” Ajjan said. “I’m excited and grateful for the opportunity to give back to an institution that has given me so much by working under the leadership of President Book and Provost Kohn.”

Ajjan will succeed longtime Dean Raghu Tadepalli. As dean, Tadepalli worked with faculty, staff, alumni, business leaders, and parents to develop a rigorous curriculum and professional resources for students in a business school consistently ranked among the nation’s best. Under Tadepalli’s leadership, enrollment in majors in the Love School of Business increased by 60%, as did the number of faculty.

Ajjan earned a Bachelor of Business Administration, Master of Business Administration, and Ph.D in Information Technology from the University of North Carolina Charlotte Belk College of Business. She later completed the Academy for Innovative Higher Education Leadership certificate program offered through Arizona State University and Georgetown University, as well as the Management Development Program certificate program through Harvard University.

She and her husband, Mahdi, are the parents of two sons, Alexander and Julian.

About the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business

Established in 1985, the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business has developed a national reputation for its rigorous program of study that prepares graduates to serve as principled leaders in the global community. Seventy full-time faculty teach nearly 2,000 students each year in the Ernest A. Koury, Sr. Business Center and Richard W. Sankey Hall, two buildings that comprise more than 90,000 square feet of classrooms, computer labs, finance centers, design thinking spaces, faculty offices and collaborative study rooms that foster student teamwork and professional networking.

The Love School of Business offers 12 undergraduate majors across five departments – accounting, economics, finance, management & entrepreneurship, and marketing & international business – with graduate programs in business administration, business analytics and accounting. It also features accelerated 3+1 dual-degree programs in accounting and business analytics, as well as an international business dual-degree program in partnership with universities in Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

The school is home to six interdisciplinary centers:

• The Chandler Family Professional Sales Center
• The Doherty Center for Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship
• The Porter Family Professional Development Center
• The William Garrard Reed Finance Center
• The Center for Organizational Analytics
• The Center for Financial Literacy

More than 97% of students in the Love School of Business secure employment, enroll in graduate school or do both within nine months of graduation. Students routinely are employed by some of the nation’s most recognizable companies. Faculty regularly earn awards for excellence in teaching and mentoring, with scholarly contributions to their disciplines through publications in major journals and presentations at leading national conferences.

Named for the founder of Burlington Industries – which would grow from its origins in Burlington, North Carolina, to be the world’s largest textile company – and his wife, the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business is accredited by AACSB International, an honor achieved by fewer than 5% of business schools in the world. Elon earned its initial AACSB accreditation in 2004 and achieved re-accreditation in 2009, 2014 and 2019. The school’s undergraduate business degree program is nationally ranked by Poets & Quants, most recently No. 40 in the United States and No. 26 among private universities.

Dean of the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business Search Committee

• Zak Kramer, Dean of the Elon University School of Law (co-chair)
• Tina Das, Lincoln Financial Professor and Professor of Economics (co-chair)
• Brian Baker, Associate Vice President and Director of Principal Gifts
• Kristin Barrier, Director of Operations and Accreditation
• Emma Battle P’17, Chair, Martha and Spencer Love School of Business Board of Advisors
• Dillan Bono-Lunn, Assistant Professor of Political Science and Public Policy
• Brooke Buffington, Assistant Vice President for Student Professional Development Center
• Patty Cox, Assistant Professor of Accounting
• Brooks Depro, Associate Professor of Economics
• Rob Elbitar, Lecturer in Marketing
• Jessica Gisclair, Associate Professor of Strategic Communications
• Margarita Kaprielyan, Associate Professor of Finance
• Elena Kennedy, Doherty Emerging Professor of Entrepreneurship and Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship
• Brian Lyons, Martha and Spencer Love Term Professor and Professor of Management
• Thibaut Morillon, Assistant Professor of Finance
• Sylvia Munoz, Assistant Dean of Students/Director of the Center for Race, Ethnicity and Diversity Education
• Caroline Sprecher, Assistant Professor of Accounting
• Evan Sprinkle, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions
• George Talbert, Assistant Professor of Marketing
• Ryan Voisard, Love School of Business SGA Senator