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Meet the Dean

David P. Spalding

David P. Spalding, the Raisbeck Endowed Dean of the Ivy College of Business, is the fifth dean of the college. He also serves as vice president for Economic Development and Industry Relations at Iowa State University.

Under his leadership, total enrollment at the Ivy College of Business grew 36.7 percent from fall 2012 to fall 2023. He led the effort to secure more than $140 million from donors, including a $50 million gift from Debbie and Jerry Ivy that named the college in September 2017.

During his time as dean, the college has added five undergraduate majors, including entrepreneurship, business analytics, human resources management, actuarial science, and healthcare management, and a bachelor of business administration (BBA), which is an online program for those who started college and want to complete their degree. In addition, six new master’s programs were launched, including accounting analytics, finance, business analytics, entrepreneurship, healthcare analytics and operations, and real estate development.

Before arriving in Ames in August 2013, Spalding served for eight years at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, most recently as senior vice president and senior advisor to Dartmouth’s president. Prior to Dartmouth, he had a 29-year career in finance in New York City. He began his career in New York with The Chase Manhattan Bank. He also was a vice president with The First National Bank of Chicago and a senior vice president with GE Capital Corporate Finance Group Inc. In addition, he was a managing director at Lehman Brothers in New York. He was most recently vice chairman of The Cypress Group LLC, a firm that he co-founded and co-managed.

Over the years, Spalding has served on a number of corporate boards and nonprofit organizations, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Metro New York, where he was board chair. He currently serves on the Ames Economic Development Commission Board of Directors and is the United Way of Story County Tocqueville Society campaign chair.

Spalding received an AB in history cum laude in 1976 from Dartmouth and an MBA in finance from New York University in 1984.

Contact Raisbeck Endowed Dean, David P. Spalding.

Dean’s initiatives

Academic programs

At the Ivy College of Business, we continuously evaluate our programs, innovate, and add new opportunities that fit current market demand and anticipate future business needs. We do this to help our students succeed.

Some of our most recent additions include:

We couldn’t create these impactful programs without our ongoing partnerships with alumni and leaders in these fields. Many of them serve as members of the Dean’s Advisory Council. Each academic department also has an Executive Advisory Council with experts providing the latest information about market demands.

Faculty research

Faculty members in every department at the Ivy College of Business consistently contribute to their respective fields by regularly publishing in top academic journals. Our researchers play an important role in finding solutions to today’s business challenges. They help the business world find answers today for a brighter future tomorrow.

Here are a few examples of recent research papers published in top journals:

Review of Financial Studies: “Neglected Peers in Merger Valuations,” by Feng (Jason) Guo, Dean’s Fellow in Accounting, associate professor of accounting, and Tingting Liu, the John and Connie Stafford Professor in Business, associate professor of finance.

Journal of Marketing: “When Do Marketing Ideation Crowdsourcing Contests Create Shareholder Value? The Effect of Contest Design and Marketing Resource Factors,” by Hui (Sophia) Feng, associate professor of marketing.

Journal of Applied Psychology: “From Free Pastures to Penned in: The Within-Person Effects of Psychological Reactance on Side-Hustlers’ Hostility and Initiative in Full-Time Work,” by Sophie Pychlau, assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship.

Information Systems Research: “How Does Online Information Influence Offline Transactions: Insights from Digital Real Estate Platforms,” by Hua Sun, associate professor of finance, and Cheng Nie, assistant professor of information systems and business analytics.

Learn more about faculty research at Ivy.

Start something

When you think entrepreneurship, think of Iowa State University! We’re ranked #14 in the nation and #1 in Iowa for undergraduate entrepreneurship programs —2025 The Princeton Review.

At the Ivy College of Business, our students have many entrepreneurial opportunities: a major, minor, online certificate, master’s, and PhD. These programs are all supported by an innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem that includes the Iowa State University Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship, the Student Innovation Center, the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), and the Iowa State University Research Park as well as the Ivy College of Business.

We know our students have ideas that can change the world. They may want to start a business, market their own product, or lead a group of innovative thinkers. The Start Something Network across campus and at Ivy is ready to support and guide our students.

National awards and rankings for entrepreneurship continue

The Iowa State University Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship, part of the Ivy College of Business, received the top awards in 2021 and 2022 from two of the most prominent and long-standing organizations related to entrepreneurship. These are once-in-a-generation accomplishments:

  • Entrepreneurial University of the Year – Americas – from the Accreditation Council for Engaged and Entrepreneurial Universities, 2023.
  • NASDAQ Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence Award— from the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC), 2022.
  • United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) Model Program Award, the highest of the organization’s four prestigious annual Excellence in Entrepreneurship Education Awards, 2021.
  • NASDAQ Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence Award— from the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC), 2022.
  • United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) Model Program Award, the highest of the organization’s four prestigious annual Excellence in Entrepreneurship Education Awards, 2021.

Learn more about Start something at Ivy.

Ivy College of Business

Gerdin Business Building
2167 Union Drive
Ames, IA 50011
515-294-8300