New management at SDU Business School: New head appointed - Head of Department to be Director of Studies

SDU has appointed Jacob Kjær Eskildsen as the new head of SDU Business School (SBS). He comes from a position as head of department at the Department of Business & Management at Aarhus University. At the same time, Christian Elmelund-Præstekær, Head of Department, will transfer to a position as Director of Studies at the new business school. Together, they will strengthen SBS' strategic direction, programme quality and collaboration with the outside world.

New head of SDU Business School has been appointed

As head of SDU Business School, Jacob Kjær Eskildsen will be responsible for setting the strategic direction for the business area, strengthening collaboration with business and society and further developing the quality of both education and research. With the new organisation of the social sciences, SDU Business School now has its own management at faculty level. This means that SBS will have a clearer strategic mandate and a stronger platform for developing excellent research and education and for strengthening collaboration with companies, public organisations and international partners.

As leader, Jacob Kjær Eskildsen will be responsible for

• bringing the organisation together across the campuses
• Supporting a strong, shared culture at SBS
• further developing SBS' educational and research quality
• Strengthening SBS' international position and profile

A strong profile to realise the ambitions for SBS

Rector Jens Ringsmose sees the appointment as an important step in realising the ambitions for SDU Business School:

- With Jacob Kjær Eskildsen, SDU Business School gets an experienced leader with both great research credentials and strong strategic competences. This is crucial for us to be able to bring the excellent research and the strong educational environments we already have in the field of business administration even better into play - nationally and internationally, says Jens Ringsmose.

- SDU Business School will be a natural focal point for collaboration with the business community and the surrounding society. Jacob Kjær Eskildsen will play a key role in developing new partnerships, strengthening the coherence across our campuses and ensuring that SBS contributes knowledge, talent and innovation to companies and organisations throughout the region and internationally, he adds.

SDU Business School will be closer to practice and the outside world

Jacob Kjær Eskildsen is looking forward to the task:

- SDU Business School has a strong foundation with talented researchers, committed lecturers and attractive programmes. My goal is to gather and further develop these strengths so that we can create even clearer academic profiles and even stronger research environments that stand out internationally, he says.

-I see great potential in bringing research even closer to practice in collaboration with companies, public organisations and international partners. At the same time, it's important to me that SBS is perceived as a single business school across campuses - with a strong study environment and good conditions for both employees and students.

Director of Studies based at SDU Kolding

Christian Elmelund-Præstekær, who comes from a position as head of department at the Department of Business and Sustainability, is moving to the position as Director of Studies for SDU Business School. In this role, he will have overall responsibility for SBS' overall education portfolio across the campuses and for ensuring high quality and coherence in the programmes.

As Director of Studies, Christian Elmelund-Præstekær will be responsible for

• developing and quality assuring SBS' programmes and study environment
• Strengthening the link between the programmes and the needs of the labour market
• Supporting pedagogical development and coherence across programmes and campuses
• Contribute to ensuring that SBS' programmes support the overall strategic direction for the business area

The new Director of Studies will be based at SDU Kolding, which is a central campus for SBS' activities. Based in Kolding, the Director of Studies will play an important role in developing the programmes close to both students and the regional business community, while supporting SDU Business School to be perceived as a single business school across the campuses.

The Director of Studies will thus play a key role for the students, the study environment and the further development of SBS' programmes.

Starts 1 April and 1 September

Jacob Kjær Eskildsen will take up the position as Head of SDU Business School on 1 April 2026, while Christian Elmelund-Præstekær will take up the position as Director of Studies on 1 September 2026.