The void created last August when long-time Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) MBA admissions czar Derrick Bolton left has been filled. The school announced today that Kirsten Moss has been named the new assistant dean and director of MBA admissions and financial aid.
Moss is no stranger to Stanford’s admissions office, having served as part of the team from 2004 to 2010, first as a consultant, then as associate director of evaluation and finally as director of MBA admissions. During her time with the Palo Alto school, she managed the evaluation, marketing and operations teams while also developing a new approach to assessing leadership capability. Prior to joining Stanford, she led first career services and later admissions and financial aid at her alma mater, Harvard Business School (HBS), from 1995 to 2001. She preceded Deirdre Leopold, who would go on to hold HBS’s key admissions director role for the next decade and a half.
Moss left Stanford in 2010 to work as a consultant for global executive search firm Egon Zehnder before launching her own consulting firm in 2012, which she has run for the past five years. Over the same span of time she also obtained her doctorate in psychology—with a focus in organizational behavior—from William James College, which boasts the largest graduate psychology program in New England.
“Kirsten has a strong understanding of our school’s vision and immediately impressed us with her ideas for connecting with the next generation of students making a positive, measurable difference in the world,” Stanford GSB Dean Jonathan Levin said in a statement announcing her appointment. “Kirsten brings a wealth of knowledge and experience—from top-tier MBA admissions programs to business consulting—and will provide fresh insight as we achieve new levels of excellence.”
Moss’s appointment concludes an extensive search chaired by Stanford Senior Academic Dean Yossi Feinberg that included interviews with faculty, staff, students and alumni. She will assume the new role on June 1st and will report to Feinberg. “Kirsten has deep experience in admissions and leadership talent evaluation both inside and outside Stanford GSB,” Feinberg said in a statement.
Moss, who holds both MBA and bachelor’s degrees from Harvard, is excited to return to Stanford, where she will manage the admissions and financial team and have responsibility for shaping the school’s vision for how to continue to reach and recruit the world’s most highly qualified MBA candidates. Stanford has long held the claim as the most selective business school in the world. Last year, it admitted just 6.1 percent of the more than 8,000 hopefuls who applied.
“Stanford GSB has a rich legacy of equipping students with the tools necessary to create change—individually, within organizations and throughout the world,” Moss said in a statement. “I’m thrilled to join the team in this new capacity as we work together to cultivate the next generation of leaders poised to make an impact.”
Learn more about Stanford GSB’s new assistant dean and director of MBA admissions.
