Professor Steven Abeln received a Ph.D. in Management (Labor Economics) and M.Phil. in International Relations from Cambridge University, where he was a Rotary Foundation Scholar. He received his undergraduate degree from The University of Pennsylvania where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude.
Professor Abeln has two decades of extensive academic leadership experience at top 100 QS world-ranked universities including MIT, Cambridge, Texas Austin, Georgetown and Adelaide University. He began his academic career at the MIT Sloan School of Management as the Director of the MBA program, at age 26. He was the youngest Director of any internationally ranked MBA program in the world at the time of his appointment at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Prior to joining he was the Dean of School of Business, University of Adelaide University, Australia.
Professor Abeln served from 2007 through 2011 as a member of the Faculty of Management at the University of Cambridge, and as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Cambridge Executive Education, a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of Cambridge which partners in the development and delivery of multi-disciplinary education programs for private and public sector organizations and professionals.
From 2004-2007, Dr. Abeln served as Associate Dean at The University of Texas at Austin School of Business. He was responsible for five of the school's MBA programs with a degree enrolment of 800 and a portfolio of over 50 Executive Education open enrolment and custom courses. Abeln taught International Management course for the MBAs as a member of the Faculty of Management. He also led the school's initiative to construct a $135million educational and residential facility for executive education.
Professor Abeln was previously the Associate Dean at Georgetown University responsible for both the MBA and Executive MBA. Abeln implemented a new program curriculum, increased applications significantly (by over 60 percent) and introduced academic technological improvements to the teaching and learning experience. Under his leadership, the Executive MBA ranked in the top ten in Business Week.
Professor Abeln has extensive experience in the media as an economic and financial commentator with over 100 interviews and has written on the trends in graduate management education. He has been quoted in The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The London Times, The Independent and other international publications. He has appeared on ABC, CBS and NBC television and radio affiliates. He also worked previously for KYW-TV and for The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News. He has moderated and participated in forums with heads of state, government ministers, CEOs and executives of leading companies, and academic leaders.