On my precious research day – the first in a long time – I am searching JMS for articles about diversity and inclusion for a paper I am writing from a recent research project, and I come upon a scathing account of a Business School away day. In a short paragraph we learn who a key baddie of the tale is, the Business School Dean. Broadening my search to other management journals I find there is little empathy for the Business School Dean. They are portrayed variously as using corporate buzzwords, being out of touch with the academic community, and easily seduced by the power that apparently comes from the role. It seems the Dean is a character not only unloved by the management studies community, but also routinely criticized and despised. In the #METOO era, where colleagues would never dream of commenting on the dress of another, the appearance of the Dean – stereotypically presented as a sharp suited male – is a legitimate subject for comment. As portrayed in our academic journals, they are not the kind of characters that any one of us would aspire to be.