Martijn Cremers reappointed as Mendoza dean

Martijn Cremers, Martin J. Gillen Dean

Martijn Cremers has been reappointed for a second five-year term as the Martin J. Gillen Dean at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. Cremers, who also is the Bernard J. Hank Professor of Finance, is the 11th individual to serve as the College’s dean since its founding in 1921. He previously served as interim dean from 2018-2019 before being named to the position for a five-year term in July 2019.

John McGreevy, the Charles and Jill Fischer Provost, announced Cremers’ reappointment on Tuesday in an email to Mendoza faculty, staff and advisory board members. The provost appointed an eight-person committee to conduct the review process in accordance with the Notre Dame Academic Articles, which included five Mendoza faculty members, two faculty members from other academic units on campus, one business student and one representative from the provost’s office.

“I’m happy to report that Fr. Jenkins has approved my recommendation, and Martijn has accepted our offer to serve another term as dean,” said McGreevy. “The committee highlighted Martijn’s many achievements, including his work to open Mendoza course offerings to the University community, his commitment to strong faculty appointments, and his determination to raise the research sights of our faculty. I am grateful for his continued willingness to serve Mendoza as dean of the College.”

During Cremers’ first term as dean, Mendoza increased the strength and size of its faculty, launched two doctoral programs for the first time in the College’s history, launched the Business Honors Program for undergraduate students, made significant changes to the undergraduate business core curriculum to add flexibility and broader integration with the University, and saw growth in the College’s master’s programs.

Prior to joining Notre Dame in 2012, Cremers was a faculty member at the Yale School of Management from 2002 to 2012. His research and teaching areas are investment management, corporate finance, corporate governance, corporate law, business ethics and Catholic social thought.

His co-authored paper “How Active is Your Fund Manager? A New Measure that Predicts Performance” (published in 2009 in the Review of Financial Studies) introduced Active Share, an innovative tool for determining the extent of active mutual fund management by measuring the percentage of stock holdings in a manager’s portfolio that differs from the benchmark index. Active Share has become widely used in the financial industry and was incorporated in Morningstar Direct and FactSet.

A native of the Netherlands, Cremers earned his master’s degree from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and his Ph.D. from New York University’s Stern School of Business.

Cremers and his wife Liesbeth reside in South Bend, Indiana, and have six children.