(ATLANTA – February 14, 2022) – Emory University Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Ravi V. Bellamkonda has announced Gareth James as the next dean of Goizueta Business School.
James comes to Emory from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business, where he serves as deputy dean, E. Morgan Stanley Chair in Business Administration, and professor of data sciences and operations. James will take up the deanship July 1.
“Dr. James is a demonstrated leader with the vision and experience to elevate the Goizueta Business School to even greater heights of success,” says President Gregory L. Fenves. “The future of business education and scholarship touches all aspects of our lives, the way we work, and how we create opportunities for the future. Dr. James understands that preparing business leaders requires a broad set of skills that are informed by impactful research, as well as real-life experiences in a complex, interconnected economy. Atlanta is home to some of the most dynamic and diverse businesses in the nation, and I look forward to seeing Dr. James deepen Emory’s partnerships like never before.”
James is keen to begin his work at Goizueta, noting, “Emory and Goizueta have impressive ambitions to become even stronger institutions. I’m looking forward to working with President Fenves, Provost Bellamkonda and our faculty, staff and students to transform that ambition into a reality. I’m also excited to be at a school whose very name represents an important legacy for both Emory and the Atlanta region.”
“Dr. James has an excellent grasp of our strengths, understands our desires and ambitions for the school, and has plans to realize them. We’re thrilled to have someone of his caliber advance the teaching and research missions of Goizueta,” Bellamkonda says. “Chosen from an extraordinary pool of candidates, Dr. James stood out as a proven leader who uses data-driven decision-making, has an affable leadership style and a great sense of humor, and is as ambitious for Goizueta as we are.”
During his time at the Marshall School of Business, James has most recently served as interim dean (2019-2020), during which he led the school’s COVID-19 response, and deputy dean (2020-2022), a position created to retain him at school-level leadership; he has also served as vice dean of faculty.
A statistician by training and a New Zealander by birth, James graduated from Stanford University with a PhD in statistics in 1998 after receiving a Fulbright Scholarship in 1994. Prior to that, he studied at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, where he earned bachelor of science and bachelor of commerce degrees.
James has been an active scholar, authoring numerous journal and discussion articles, books, conference proceedings, and book chapters. In particular, he has published extensively in the areas of functional data analysis and high dimensional statistics. His work has been cited approximately 20,000 times. In fact, just in the period since COVID hit he has published six top-tier journal articles along with the second edition of his highly successful co-authored textbook, An Introduction to Statistical Learning. James has acted as the PI or co-PI on several National Science Foundation research grants and has served as an associate editor for five top research journals. He has won two Dean’s Research Awards, and is an elected Fellow of the American Statistical Association and the Institute of Mathematical Statistics.
James is also a superb teacher and mentor. In addition to the Evan C. Thompson Faculty Teaching and Learning Innovation award, he has won Marshall’s Golden Apple for best instructor in the full-time MBA program three times. He has also been awarded Marshall and USC’s highest honors for mentoring junior colleagues and graduate students, including the Dean’s Ph.D. Advising, USC Mellon, Evan C. Thompson, and Provost’s Mentoring awards.
About Emory University’s Goizueta Business School
Business education has been an integral part of Emory University’s identity since 1919. That kind of longevity and significance does not come without a culture built on success and service. Emory University’s Goizueta Business School offers a unique, community-oriented environment paired with the academic prestige and rigor of a major research institution. Goizueta develops business leaders of today and tomorrow with an undergraduate degree program, a two-year full-time MBA, a one-year MBA, an evening MBA, an executive MBA, an MS in business analytics, a master of analytical finance, a doctoral degree, and a portfolio of non-degree Emory Executive Education courses. Together, the Goizueta community strives to solve the world’s most pressing business problems. The school is named for the late Roberto C. Goizueta, former chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company.
