By Rebecca Szlechter, JNS
“When I heard about this opportunity and the opportunity to build a new business school at Touro, it was an opportunity I just couldn’t pass up,” Larry Singleton told JNS.
Larry Singleton isn’t Jewish, but he has a lot of Jewish ideas about how he will run Touro University’s new business school, particularly as artificial intelligence continues to shape the business world.
“One of the big criticisms of AI and technology in general is that there’s no moral grounding. There’s no ethical background to it,” he told JNS. “It’s just a bunch of data without any soul.”
Touro, a 55-year-old private nonprofit school that states that it operates “under Jewish auspices,” can offer a counterbalance due to its emphasis on ethical decision-making, according to Singleton.
“I’m not Jewish myself, but I’m thrilled to be in an environment that has those strong beliefs and behaviors,” Singleton told JNS on Tuesday, a day after Touro said that he will be the inaugural dean of its new School of Business.
The “integrated” school will offer both undergraduate and graduate programs, per the university.
Singleton served most recently as dean of Pace University’s Lubin School of Business. He told JNS that he was drawn to the chance to build a business school from scratch.
“I’ve been a dean at a couple of other places and been a professor for many years, and I’ve consulted with a lot of organizations, worked for an accounting firm,” he said. “When I heard about this opportunity and the opportunity to build a new business school at Touro, it was an opportunity I just couldn’t pass up.”
Dr. Alan Kadish, president of Touro, stated that Singleton is a “distinguished academic leader, accomplished scholar and experienced strategist who brings a record of innovation, transformative growth and impact across leading institutions.”
“He is expert at aligning business education with the evolving demands of the global economy, and we know he will prepare our students to succeed in the modern workplace,” he said.
Artificial intelligence, data analytics, digital transformation and emerging technologies will be at the center of the new school’s curriculum, according to Singleton.
“Education is more relevant than ever,” he told JNS. “But the model that delivered it for the last 25 years is not going to be the model for the next 25 years.”
Singleton does not want AI to be treated as simply another course or skill added to an existing curriculum. He plans to incorporate it throughout the programs.
“We want to be sure that everything we do in the new Touro School of Business will have AI embedded throughout it,” he told JNS.
Instruction might address how artificial intelligence can be used in accounting, finance, human resources and health-care administration, and students will learn to interpret large amounts of information and use it to make better decisions, he said. There will also be an emphasis on debate and pursuit of truth, which Singleton has observed among Touro students.
Students engaging in debates to determine core issues and answers to questions is “huge,” he told JNS.
The new school will also emphasize career outcomes and stronger connections between students and the business community, according to Singleton.
Touro students should graduate with strong foundations in accounting, finance, marketing and human resources and understand how to apply technology and data in those fields, he said.
“We want to be sure that not only do they get a good job, but they have a great experience while they’re here, and they get a good grounding in those ethical foundations that they need,” he told JNS.
Touro’s location in Times Square in midtown Manhattan is a major advantage, according to Singleton.
“If you walk, I would say, 30 minutes from Times Square, there’s probably a leading organization in just about every field,” he told JNS. “Everything is here.”
The dean hopes the students will develop stronger relationships with business and organizations that can provide them with opportunities while they are enrolled and post-graduation.
Touro’s existing strength in health care could also provide opportunities for the new school, according to Singleton. The university has pathway programs allowing students to pursue both medical degrees and an M.B.A.
“I want to see great outcomes,” he said.
Singleton will oversee the new school’s effort to earn accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, the main global accreditor for business schools.
To students considering Touro’s new business schools, Singleton said, “If you want to be in a place that’s going places, that offers great opportunities for students in a cutting-edge curriculum, this is the place to be.”
