Kinnear’s appointment comes at the end of a six-month national search to fill the post being vacated by Jon Cosovich, who is now serving as deputy to the president.
“Six months ago, I asked a small advisory group to assist me in choosing a successor to Jon Cosovich as vice president for development,” Duderstadt said. “This group assisted me in looking for individuals who are regarded as visionary leaders in the field—the very best people in the country—to lead our development office and see the Campaign for Michigan to a successful conclusion.
“We began a series of discussions with the best individuals in the field of higher education development. While several of them were quite interested in coming to Michigan, for reasons of timing, none of them could make a change at this time. Rather than continue these discussions, I believe it is essential that we now move to appoint an interim vice president.
“I am pleased that Tom Kinnear has agreed to take a leave of absence from his faculty position to serve as interim vice president for development,” Duderstadt said. “As senior associate dean of the School of Business Administration, Tom was a strong and committed manager. As head of our Executive Education Center, he proved himself to be a firm and visionary leader.
“In addition, as a faculty member with international stature in marketing, Tom will bring expertise in a field that will be essential as we move the Campaign for Michigan into its new phase of reaching even greater numbers of our friends and alumni. I expect Tom will bring the best thinking about marketing to this effort and work closely with our Campaign leadership, the deans and executive officers of the University, and Roy Muir and the other members of the central development staff to bring the Campaign to a successful conclusion and lay the groundwork for our longer-term development efforts.”
In his new position, Kinnear will be responsible for administration of the Office of Development and will act as development counsel to the Regents, the president and the policy-making bodies of the University. The University’s
$1 billion Campaign for Michigan, begun in 1992, is scheduled to run through 1997.
“I am excited about the prospect of working with the U-M’s staff of development professionals, and with the deans and executive officers of the University, to make the Campaign for Michigan a success,” Kinnear said. “Development is one of the key activities in the continuing effort to keep Michigan a truly excellent institution for research and teaching. It is an honor for me to be part of the University’s development team.”
Kinnear joined the faculty of the School of Business Administration in 1975, and was named a full professor in 1980. He has held the Phelps Professorship since 1992, and served as associate dean of the school in 1986–91 and as senior associate dean in 1991–93.
A 1966 graduate of Queen’s University at Kingston, Ont., Kinnear received an M.B.A. degree from Harvard University in 1968 and a Ph.D. in business administration from the U-M in 1972. He also has held a faculty appointment at the University of Western Ontario and visiting appointments at Harvard, Stanford University, and the European Management Institute at Fontainebleau, France.
His teaching and research interests have focused on marketing planning and research. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles and books, and has served as editor of the Journal of Marketing and the Journal of Public Policy and Marketing.
Kinnear is an academic trustee of the Marketing Science Institute and currently serves as a member of the boards of directors of several companies and community organizations, including the University Musical Society and Greenhills School, where he was president of the Board of Trustees. He is a past director of the American Marketing Association and the Association for Consumer Research.