RISE 2019 Conference

Joan T.A. Gabel is the 17th president of the University of Minnesota. She leads the University’s mission by honoring its legacy as a place of discovery and opportunity, while emphasizing solutions inspired by Minnesotans that serve our state and change the world.

Gabel most recently served as executive vice president and the provost at the University of South Carolina (UofSC), where she revitalized scholarly enterprise and launched dynamic programs, increasing enrollment and alternative revenue streams. Under her leadership, UofSC emerged as a national leader through the creation of “arenas of excellence,” which promote opportunities for students to experience interdisciplinary study, research, and pathways to career opportunities in information technology and the health sciences. She expanded the university’s global footprint and impact; championed experiential learning, entrepreneurialism and service learning; and worked to incentivize and support faculty. She also expanded campus diversity and inclusion efforts, which included the recruitment and support of underrepresented students, faculty and staff, as well as the creation of inclusive programs and forums to measurably improve the campus climate.

Previously, Gabel held faculty appointments at Georgia State University and served as the DeSantis Professor and chair of the Department of Risk Management/Insurance, Real Estate and Legal Studies at Florida State University. She also served as dean of the University of Missouri’s Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business, where she established nationally recognized distributed learning opportunities and was recognized as a shining star in business school administration by the Wall Street Journal. 

Gabel’s early academic interests include legal and ethical issues in business, including governance. In recent years, she has turned her scholarly focus to the public higher education mission, ethical governance, and women’s leadership. Gabel has also served as editor in chief of the American Business Law Journal and the Journal of Legal Studies in Business, and as a board member of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. She has been recognized with numerous research, service, and teaching awards, including a Fulbright Scholarship.