Rick Locke appointed next dean of MIT Sloan
Locke returns to MIT after leadership positions at Brown and Apple.
On Monday, Jan. 6, Richard “Rick” Locke PhD ’89 was officially appointed the next dean of the MIT Sloan School of Management. After earning his PhD in political science at MIT and serving the institute in various roles from then until 2013, he is returning to MIT as the 10th John C. Head III Dean of Sloan, effective July 1.
Locke has led a successful career with leadership positions in both academia and industry. After earning his PhD at MIT, he joined the faculty as a professor of political science and management, and later became the head of the Department of Political Science. He served as MIT Sloan’s deputy dean for several years, where he co-founded MIT’s Global Entrepreneurship Lab (G-Lab), an initiative which educates students through classes and internship opportunities at startups abroad.
After MIT, Locke served as provost of Brown University for seven and a half years before becoming dean of Apple University in 2023, an educational initiative for the company’s employees. He is also heavily involved in research and has authored or co-authored five books and multitudes of journal articles on political science.
He succeeds interim dean Georgia Perakis and former dean David Schmittlein. “Now as dean, I look forward to once again being part of this wonderful community,” Locke says.