Frank Hodge

Orin and Janet Smith Endowed Dean of the UW Foster School of Business

Frank Hodge became the Orin & Janet Smith Endowed Dean at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business July 1, 2019. Being named the 14th dean in UW Foster’s 102-year history, Frank will build on a faculty career that began at our university in 2000 and most recently includes a six-year stint as Accounting Department Chair and five years as the UW Faculty Athletics Representative to the Pac-12 and NCAA. He holds an undergraduate degree from Carroll College and earned his MBA and Ph.D. from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.

Known as “Coach” to his students, Frank’s teaching has been recognized with more than 30 awards across the undergraduate, graduate and executive levels. In June he was honored with the new Foster Hybrid MBA Program’s inaugural Excellence in Teaching Award. Frank’s research focuses on how managers disclose and individuals use accounting information to make investment decisions. He has published extensively and served on the editorial boards of the leading accounting journals and has presented his work at the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as more than 40 conferences and universities around the world.

Frank moves into Foster’s top administrative position at a time when the Foster School has risen faster in the rankings than any other MBA program in America. Frank plans to propel the School to even greater heights by cultivating a passion amongst Foster students, staff and faculty to be “better tomorrow, better together.” The Foster School currently holds the top position world-wide for public business schools in the Financial Times‘ ranking of faculty research productivity, the top position with respect to providing resources to women MBAs, the top position each of the last three years in placement among top 25 MBA programs, and was recently named the Tech Industry’s favorite school by Poets & Quants. Frank is uniquely qualified to expand this list of top placements given his expertise in identifying disrupters and turning them into opportunities. Finally, Frank is excited to enrich the connections between the Foster School and its local, national, and global communities as well as its proud and impactful alumni base.