Robert E. Kennedy, an expert on business strategy and industrial dynamics in emerging economies, will become director of the William Davidson Institute (WDI) at the Business School on May 1, the WDI Board of Directors has announced.

Kennedy, who joined the Business School in September as a professor of business administration and as the associate director of WDI, succeeds Jan Svejnar, who will return to teaching full time at the Business School, the board said last week.

Kennedy came to the institute from the Harvard Business School, where he was associate professor of business administration. He has worked in more than a dozen countries as a management consultant and venture capitalist.

Kennedy received bachelor’s degrees in economics and political science from Stanford University, a master’s degree in management science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a master’s degree and doctorate in business economics from Harvard University.

“I think the William Davidson Institute is a tremendous resource for the University,” Kennedy says. “It has had an impact on the study of transition and emerging market economies and on Michigan Business School students. Jan established a strong foundation, and I look forward to extending the institute’s impact to new audiences.”

The institute will continue to conduct research on transition economics, sponsor conferences on emerging market issues and showcase the work of more than 170 researcher affiliates at universities around the world. It also will launch research initiatives to document and disseminate best practices in public policy, business practice and management education.

“I believe WDI can play an important role in not only promoting existing research, but also creating and actively managing networks of economists, policymakers, business practitioners, educators and the media with an interest in emerging market issues,” Kennedy says.

The institute will continue to provide direct experience in emerging markets through student projects, executive education, and technical assistance programs for development agencies such as the World Bank and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Business School Dean Robert Dolan, who also serves as president of the institute, says, “Bob’s emphasis on the practitioner-oriented initiatives of the institute and making them relevant to economists, businesspeople and educators, will help establish WDI as a gathering point for the study of emerging markets.”

Dolan lauded Svejnar for his leadership and says he “created a solid foundation upon which to build.” Svejnar, the Everett E. Berg Professor at the Business School and professor of economics, was an architect of the Czech Republic’s economic reforms in the early 1990s and continues to advise Czech President Vaclav Havel.

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright joined WDI as its first distinguished scholar, and the institute established a Washington, D.C., office during Svejnar’s tenure.