The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), a global association of leading graduate business schools, has announced the appointment of Joy Jones as the organisation’s CEO-elect. 

Jones currently serves as GMAC’s chief product officer and general manager of assessments, a role she has held since July 2017.

The announcement came after current CEO Sangeet Chowfla announced his intention to step down from the position earlier this year, and an extensive search executed by a global executive recruiting firm. The GMAC board of directors unanimously voted to elect Jones, who will become GMAC’s fourth CEO as of October 1, 2022. 

“Besides her proven success with growing GMAC products and services and deep understanding of the graduate management education industry we represent, we were especially impressed by Ms. Jones’s vision, intellect, composure, and ability to relate to people,” said Jon Erickson, chairman of the GMAC board of directors and former president of education and career services at ACT. 

Jones joined GMAC five years ago with the responsibility for holistically managing the Council’s assessments and preparation portfolio, which includes the Graduate Management Admission Test™ (GMAT™) exam—the most widely used assessment by business schools worldwide and relied on by more than 7,500 business school programmes, the NMAT by GMAC™ exam, Executive Assessment, and associated assessment preparation materials. 

She was instrumental in navigating through challenging times during the COVID-19 pandemic with a rapid launch of the online delivery of all GMAC assessment solutions. Earlier this year, under her stewardship, GMAC debuted Business Fundamentals Powered by Kaplan, a new GMAC product line of “micro” courses in statistics, accounting, and finance to help prepare business school aspirants and admitted students for success in their graduate programmes, GMAC said in a statement.

“It is a great honor for me to be chosen to lead a long-standing and highly regarded organisation like GMAC, with an outstanding 70-year history of connecting talent with opportunity through higher education. As the organisation enters into a new chapter in an ever-evolving global business environment, focused on innovation and growth as well as diversity and inclusion, I look forward to continuing to work alongside my dedicated colleagues at GMAC and in the business school community to advance graduate management education and ensure that talented people have the opportunity to improve the world we live in,” said Jones.

Prior to joining GMAC, Jones had a 13-year tenure at the Associated Press (AP) which culminated as their Vice President of Global Products, overseeing all product portfolio and distribution platform management across the company’s multimedia content licensing, advertising, and content service businesses. 

Jones will succeed Chowfla, who has chosen to step down for a new phase of his life after nearly a decade at the helm of GMAC. Chowfla joined GMAC in 2013 and served as President and CEO since 2014. 

During his tenure, Chowfla drove an extraordinary period of transformation and diversification for GMAC, including establishing regional offices in China, India, and the U.K., and oversaw three acquisitions of complementary products and services designed to help foster connections with candidates and schools, namely NMAT by GMAC, BusinessBecause, and The MBA Tour.  

“Sangeet Chowfla joined the organisation during a period of disruption in the industry that only intensified with the advent of the pandemic and global geopolitical challenges. We are grateful for his service and the extraordinary growth and evolution that has enabled us to build long-term strategies and position our association for the future to continue serving schools and candidates,” said Erickson.