Sally Blount

Sally Blount is the Michael L. Nemmers Professor of Strategy at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and CEO, Catholic Charities of Chicago.

At Northwestern, where she is also an alumna and former dean, Blount is recognized as a thought leader in management and business education, and is a professor and speaker on leadership, governance, and organizational growth and transformation. She became the first woman to lead a top-ranked U.S. business school when she was appointed dean of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. The Financial Times noted that Blount would become the most influential female dean in the United States, representing the only one of the group of seven top graduate business schools to have a woman in the position.

Blount's path to academic leadership was shaped by a diverse early career. After earning a joint degree from Princeton University's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, she worked for several years between college and graduate school, first for Boston Consulting Group and later as business manager for an architecture and design firm. She then pursued graduate studies at Kellogg, earning her Ph.D. in organizational behavior, before joining the faculty of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where she was a highly rated MBA and executive education instructor. Blount later joined New York University's Stern School of Business, where she became the Abraham L. Gitlow Professor of Management and chaired the promotion and tenure committee, before assuming the college deanship. She also served as special adviser for global academic integration for New York University's president and provost, playing a key role in the establishment of the university's campus in Abu Dhabi.

As dean of Kellogg, Blount led a significant transformation in the school's history. She launched and completed a multi-year plan to restructure administrative operations and faculty governance, reposition and strengthen the school's degree portfolio, deepen global connectivity, and leverage Kellogg's culture and thought leadership. Under Blount, Kellogg completed a $365 million fundraising campaign, constructed a 415,000-square-foot lakefront building called the "Global Hub," expanded the Executive MBA program, and enhanced the school's international standing. She concluded her deanship with the highest percentage of women ever enrolled in Kellogg's MBA program. In both her deanships, Blount led teams that completed two capital campaigns, together raising more than $550 million.

Blount is the author of two books and more than 30 peer-reviewed academic publications in negotiations and behavioral economics, and is a two-time recipient of National Science Foundation research grants. Her academic research and perspective on business have been featured in academic journals including Journal of Applied Psychology, Negotiation Journal, and Academy of Management Review, as well as business news outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and The Economist. Blount has been named one of LinkedIn's Top Voices and Poets & Quants Dean of the Year, and has co-chaired the World Economic Forum on Latin America.

Beyond academia, Blount serves as president and CEO of Catholic Charities of Chicago, one of the largest human services providers in the Midwest, serving more than 300,000 people annually. She has led the organization through a capabilities-building and strategic planning process that has reimagined governance and deepened its impact for the people and communities it serves. Blount also sits on the boards of Abbott Laboratories and the Joyce Foundation, and has previously served on the boards of Ulta Beauty, the Commercial Club of Chicago, the Economic Club of Chicago, and the Finance Council for the Archdiocese of Chicago.