Leadership
Melbourne Business School is where academic rigour and the relevance of the business world come together to equip emerging leaders with the knowledge, research insights and skill to lead and make an impact.
Professor Jenny George
Dean, Melbourne Business School
Co-Dean, Faculty of Business and Economics
Dr George first joined Melbourne Business School as a Senior Lecturer in 1998, having earned a PhD in Operations and Information Technology from Stanford University.
She quickly became a prominent member of faculty, holding a range of academic leadership positions. She helped to design and launch our Master of Business Analytics degree, which was ranked #5 in the world in its first year and has consistently been ranked among the world's best ever since.
During her time as an academic, Professor George served on several University of Melbourne committees including the Academic Board, Academic Programs Committee and Teaching and Learning Quality Assurance Committee. She also worked closely with the faculties of Science and Engineering & IT to launch the Master of Business Analytics.
In 2016, she left the School to become CEO of Converge International, one of Australia’s largest providers of mental health services to workplaces, whose customers include Qantas, the AFL, AGL, Boral and the Department of Defence.
Professor George continued to stay connected to the School during her time at Converge, serving on the Advisory Board of the Centre for Business Analytics and supporting key events and activities. In 2021, she was recognised as a Distinguished Academic Fellow of the School.
Professor George commenced as Dean of Melbourne Business School in November, 2023.
Professor Tava Olsen
Deputy Dean, Academic, Melbourne Business School
Tava is an award-winning expert in operations and supply chain management, with a PhD from Stanford University and extensive experience publishing in and serving on the editorial board of four Financial Times Top 50 journals.
Prior to joining Melbourne Business School, she was the head of two departments at the University of Auckland Business School: Information Systems and Operations Management, as well as Accounting and Finance. She also served previously as Deputy Dean from 2020 to 2021 and was also the Director of its Centre for Supply Chain Management from 2010 to 2022.
Before moving back to her native Auckland, Tava spent most of her academic career in the United States. She taught operations and manufacturing management at Washington University’s Olin Business School – first as Associate Professor and later Professor – from 2000 to 2010, and was an Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan from 1994 to 2000.
Tava has edited several top academic journals including Operations Research (Area Editor for Operations and Supply Chain), Production and Operations Management (Senior Editor), Management Science (Associate Editor) and Manufacturing and Service Operations Management (Associate Editor).
Tava has taught a wide variety of courses, including operations management, service operations, healthcare management, business analytics, simulation, critical thinking, and project management, to a range of audiences from bachelors to executives.
Outside of teaching, she also served as President of the Manufacturing and Service Operations Management Society and has been awarded more than US$3 million of external funding throughout her career, including through the Royal Society of New Zealand’s Marsden Grant and the National Science Foundation’s CAREER Award in the US.