Apple recently hired Joel Podolny, the dean of the Yale School of Management, to join the computer maker as the vice president and dean of Apple University, according to the Wall Street Journal. Podolny has worked with Yale since 2005 with a particular focus on organizational-behavior research, with recent studies of how leaders infuse meaning into their organizations. He also taught at Stanford and served as the Director of Research at the Harvard Business School.

The president of Yale, Richard Levin, noted in a farewell announcement that Podolny "leaves the Yale School of Management in the strongest position it has enjoyed in its 30-year history." He also credited the dean with leading the school's efforts to raise more than $170 million for the Yale Tomorrow fund.

In Levin's initial introduction of Podolny in 2005, he highlighted the professor's studies that applied the sociological concept of status to the study of market competition. Other work delved into the relationship between technological evolution and social network perspectives.

No details have yet been released about what the Apple University is going to be, although the expertise of the upcoming dean suggests that it will serve as an educational facility for the company's employees. Apple CEO Steve Jobs previously lead the animation company Pixar, which also has its own university to train and educate staff. The hiring of Podolny could be a signal that Apple is heading in the same direction.