PhillyDeals: Wharton admissions dean stepping down

Ankur Kumar, head of admissions and financial aid at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and a woman credited with boosting the number of female MBA candidates, is stepping down "to pursue a new endeavor," the school told staff.

Kumar's departure comes five days after the Wall Street Journal ran a story that noted that total Wharton MBA applications have been dropping on her watch, as applicants to rivals Harvard and Stanford Universities rose.

Kumar defended her record, arguing that Wharton's applicants might be fewer but were of higher quality. The Journal, however, quoted others speculating that the drop reflected Wharton's historic identification with Wall Street and finance, and its comparatively weaker ties to high-tech companies, where today's top business school graduates tend to want to be.

Harvard, where Facebook was founded, is next door to Massachusetts Institute of Technology and its world-class engineers. Stanford is also a tech leader, and is not so far from California Institute of Technology, also a cyberspace pioneer.

Of course, Penn has its own tech ties. Wharton has a number of joint programs with Penn's own busy, but smallish, engineering school, where the computer was invented a couple of generations ago. And Drexel, that center for hands-on practical-minded engineers, is right next door. But Philadelphia has yet to develop the tech cachet of Northern California, or Boston.

 In a letter to colleagues on Wednesday, Tom Robertson, the dean of Wharton, and vice dean Howie Kaufold chose not to mention the Journal story:"Dear Colleagues, we are writing to inform you that Ankur Kumar . . . who has served as Director of Admissions and Financial Aid for the past four years, has decided to leave her current position to pursue a new endeavor . . .

"Under Ankur's leadership, the MBA program reached record-breaking enrollment of women, with an unprecedented five years in a row of 40 percent or more women in the class. In addition, the entrepreneurial community grew triple-fold. Under Ankur, MBA Admissions also emerged as an innovator in evaluation, with the successful launch of the Team Based Discussion as part of the admissions process last year.

"Ankur's last day will be Friday, Oct. 4. We are excited for Ankur and wish her continued success in her career. The Admissions team will continue its work under the guidance of Maryellen Lamb, Deputy Vice Dean of MBA Admissions, Financial Aid and Career Management. Maryellen's combination of successful leadership of the MBA Career Management Office, and significant work experience in the corporate arena, ideally positions her to guide both offices.

"We look forward to witnessing the exciting road ahead for MBA Admissions under Maryellen's leadership."

Kamur is a product of Penn and Wharton. She has a bachelor of science degree from Wharton and a bachelor of arts in economics from Penn's college of arts and sciences. She has a Wharton MBA in strategic management and human resources/organizational management.

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