Dean Raj Dewan has a vision for Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies that extends well-beyond the classroom.

Dewan, who began his role as dean of the iSchool on Jan. 13, aims to foster community engagement within the iSchool and promote relations with other SU colleges. Undergraduate education is a way to prepare students to enter the world as free-thinking citizens, he said.

“That’s what I would love to do,” he said. “To shape the growth of people as they go from high school to undergraduates and into the world.”

Before accepting his new position at SU, Dewan served multiple roles at the University of Rochester’s Simon School of Business. He most recently directed a Master of Science program in business analytics that he developed.

While he enjoyed his time at Simon, Dewan said he looks forward to working with students and faculty who share his interest in technology.

“I feel, in a way, I’ve come home,” he said.

The iSchool formed a search committee for its new dean in November 2018 after former dean Liz Liddy announced she would retire after the 2018-19 academic year. Dewan’s background in data science made him stand out in the search process, said Jill Hurst-Wahl, associate professor of practice at the iSchool.

Dewan earned a Bachelor of Technology at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi in 1980. As an engineer, he considers himself both a natural analytical thinker and problem solver.

“I think all engineers are at heart problem solvers,” he said. “I think that’s a good way of thinking about deans as well: as practical problem solvers.”

Two problems in particular altered the course of Dewan’s life and career.

While developing new production methods for a coffee and tea company in India, he began reading about the traveling salesman problem, which questions how to optimize travel routes if an individual needs to visit multiple places.

A professor at Simon wrote a paper about the problem. Inspired by the professor’s work, Dewan decided to attend the school in 1986 for his Ph.D. in information systems. He later returned to Simon in 1994 as a professor, after teaching information management at Northwestern University.

The second problem occurred after the Simon School ran into financial trouble during the economic recession of 2008, Dewan said.

Enrollment at the school declined and many students struggled to find jobs after graduation, he said. As senior associate dean for faculty and research, Dewan established new academic programs in order to increase the school’s revenue.

Dewan taught the core and capstone classes specifically for the M.S. program in business analytics. He grew the program from four students in its first year to nearly 100 students this year, he said.

“That program went from being absolutely nothing to being our second biggest program in just four years,” said Anthony Ainslie, dean of the Simon School since 2014. “This school would be a much different place if Rajiv had not been here.”

Dewan also used what he called the “pull model” of education to improve Simon’s programs. He asked employers about the traits they look for in potential employees and implemented those skills as course objectives.

Often acting as a voice of reason, Dewan was able to bring the faculty together to compromise and collaborate on issues at hand, Ainslie said. He also acted as a mentor to many students looking to establish careers in research, she said.

The school overcame its entrepreneurial and innovative challenges with Dewan’s help, said Mark Zupan, former dean of Simon and current president of Alfred University.

“He isn’t shy about learning how to teach accounting, finance or marketing,” Zupan said. “He is a creative and successful driver of programization.”

Dewan often focuses his research on the effective uses of technology in business. He has published several essays on subject matters such as database design, analytics and strategic interactions between people and machine learning systems.

The goals of his research are to make people think differently and incite positive change, even if small, Dewan said.

“I think every academic hopes for that,” he said. “That’s how we live on, in a way — in citations.”

Dewan’s interest in technology exceeds his day-to-day career. At home, he sends Morse code messages around the world with an amateur radio, powered by a 100-watt lightbulb and small wire in the trees, he said. He received his license from the FCC and now has his call sign on his car license plate.

At work, Dewan hopes to pave the way for a strong future and ensure student success.

“My personal goal has always been to make a difference in a way,” he said. “Technology is so central in our world right now, and I would like iSchool to play a prominent role in this university and society.”

Published on January 29, 2020 at 8:33 pm

Contact Sarah: scalessa@syr.edu | @sarahalessan