The nonprofit association of graduate business schools is evolving with changing learner and educator demands.
RESTON, Va., July 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), a global association of leading graduate business schools, today announced the results of its most recent board elections. Catherine Duggan, a GMAC board member since 2022 and the director (dean) of the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business, has been elected board chair. David Bach, president of International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Switzerland; Jake Cohen, senior associate dean of Sloan School of Management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); and Ian Fenwick, director of Sasin School of Management at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, have been elected to join the board. Ana María Zermeño Padilla, director of academic experience and operations at Tecnológico de Monterrey’s EGADE Business School in Mexico and board member since 2023, has been reelected to the board to serve her first full term. The board’s latest term of service began July 1, 2025.
In addition, the University of California, Riverside School of Business, home of the A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management, has joined GMAC as its 228th member school. The school boasts a new facility dedicated this year and a wide-ranging portfolio of master’s programs, demonstrating its commitment to offering specialized and comprehensive management education. By joining the GMAC community, the school recognizes the unique benefits GMAC offers in industry resources and global network as it strives to contribute its strengths in providing quality graduate programs that uphold high academic standards and support ethical practices.
“This is one of the most dynamic and fast-changing times we’ve seen, with big shifts in talent mobility, technological advancement, and renewed emphasis on skill development reshaping global business education. That’s why I’m especially thrilled to welcome these industry leaders from across continents, and the highly-regarded UC Riverside, to join with us in our collective efforts toward realizing our vision—a world where every talented person can benefit from the best business education for them,” says Joy Jones, CEO of GMAC. “Their fresh perspectives and insights will strengthen GMAC’s work and help us continue contributing to the invaluable development of cross-culturally competent and globally aware business leaders of tomorrow.”
The new board members and member school have come onboard at a time when GMAC is innovating and evolving along with the rapidly changing graduate management education landscape. Earlier this year, GMAC launched Advancery, an AI-powered tool designed to guide future learners through their business education journey. The new tool delivers a personalized experience that connects skill identification, program recommendations, and application strategy in a unified platform. These efforts aim to make it easier for candidates to explore business education pathways and pursue their career aspirations, while cultivating a stronger domestic and global pipeline for business schools.
“GMAC’s mission to connect talent with business education is more important than ever, since the transformative power of graduate management education is clearest in complex environments and during periods of uncertainty,” says Catherine Duggan, the newly elected GMAC board chair. “When matched with the right management program, students gain skills that help them develop as leaders while seeing opportunities and navigating risks in ways that others cannot. That is precisely the type of insight and agility that organizations need now and in the coming decades. I am excited to work with our new board members, all of whom have spent their careers working across some of the world’s most dynamic markets and who will bring critical new perspectives and insights to the board.”
As GMAC welcomes the new leadership and addition to its board, the Council also recognizes the exceptional contributions of previous board members and thanks its outgoing board chair, Themin Suwardy, associate provost for postgraduate professional education at Singapore Management University, who has been elected by board members to continue to serve on the board for a year in an ex officio capacity, and outgoing board members Martin Boehm, executive vice president and global dean of undergraduate programs at Hult International Business School, and Giuseppe (Beppe) Soda, full professor at Bocconi University, who each completed their terms.
To learn more about our mission, board, and member school community, visit GMAC.com.
About GMAC
GMAC is a global nonprofit association of leading graduate business schools that connects future business leaders from around the world with educational opportunities. We provide the tools and information necessary for schools and talent to discover and evaluate each other, including world-class research, industry conferences, recruiting resources, and assessments specifically designed for graduate management education. With offices in China, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States, GMAC attracts more than 17 million visitors a year to its platforms that span across gmac.com, mba.com and BusinessBecause.
Upcoming Events:
- Asia Conference, Hong Kong, October 29-31, 2025
- Europe Conference, Madrid, November 19-21, 2025
- Annual Conference, Philadelphia, June 10-12, 2026
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