UCLA Anderson Taps Emory’s Gareth James As Its Next Dean

In late 2025, looking ahead to the new year, Emory Goizueta Dean Gareth James wrote that his “resolution for 2026 is to better articulate the essential role that universities – and business schools – play in shaping a thriving society and economy.”

James will be doing that from a new job at a new school – on a new coast. This summer he will become the new dean of the Anderson School of Management at UCLA, it was announced Monday (January 12).

“I have admired UCLA Anderson for almost three decades and am honored and energized to join the school as its next dean,” James says in a news story posted on the Anderson School’s website. “It is a time of extraordinary opportunity for UCLA Anderson and business education more broadly. With its deep roots in Los Angeles, a truly global city where technology, entertainment, entrepreneurship and social impact converge at extraordinary scale, UCLA Anderson is uniquely positioned to shape the future of leadership. I look forward to working closely with our faculty, students, staff and alumni to amplify our impact and further extend Anderson’s influence both locally and globally.”

SUCCESS AT EMORY

James will have been in his job at Goizueta for four years by the time he leaves to begin the Anderson deanship on July 1. He is no stranger to UCLA, a school he vigorously competed against during his years at crosstown rival USC Marshall. At the University of Southern California’s business school, he served as vice dean for faculty and academic affairs from 2013 to 2017, interim dean of Marshall for a year from 2019 to 2020 and as deputy dean from 2020 to 2022.

During those years, USC Marshall gained formidable rankings ground on UCLA Anderson. In U.S. News‘ MBA ranking, Marshall’s MBA overtook Anderson for the first time in 2021, landing 16th on the list above UCLA’s 18th ranking ( see USC Marshall Earns LA Bragging Rights). Only five years earlier, Marshall was 31st, while Anderson was 15th. UCLA has more recently regained its footing, with a U.S. News ranking last year of 18th while USC has sunk to 24th in James’ absence.

James’ tenure at Emory has been marked by growth and programmatic expansion. Under his leadership, Goizueta launched multiple new degree programs and research centers, expanded its faculty ranks with 22 new full-time professors, and significantly increased student enrollment. Since he became Goizueta’s dean more than three years ago, the full-time MBA has climbed sharply in national rankings – including to 16th in the most recent Bloomberg ranking and 17th in U.S. News, as well as 22nd in P&Q‘s aggregate ranking. In fact, last year Emory ranked above UCLA by one place.

At UCLA he will assume leadership of a much larger school. Annually, the Anderson School educates approximately 2,100 students enrolled in its MBA, MFE, M.S. and Ph.D. programs, and 250 students pursuing undergraduate minors in accounting and in entrepreneurship. Two additional undergraduate minors in real estate and sports management are in development. In addition, the school’s Executive Education program trains approximately 1,800 professionals annually. It has an operating budget of $177 million; maintains endowed funds of more than $541 million; and raises approximately $30 million annually in philanthropic and other external support. UCLA Anderson’s 50-member Board of Advisors is highly engaged and supportive of the school’s success. A strong alumni network of 44,000 spans the globe.

A native of New Zealand, James is a statistician by training. He co-authored the widely used textbook An Introduction to Statistical Learning, a touchstone in business, economics, computer science and data science curricula around the world. His research in statistical and machine-learning methodologies has been cited tens of thousands of times and spans journal articles, book chapters and major funded projects. He has also served as associate editor for multiple leading academic journals and earned research excellence awards. 

BACK TO THE WEST COAST

James’ commitment to teaching and mentoring has been equally noteworthy: at USC’s Marshall School, where he spent nearly 25 years prior to Emory, he was repeatedly recognized with top teaching awards and celebrated for his work with MBA and doctoral students alike. 

Before his roles at Marshall and Goizueta, James earned bachelor’s degrees in science and commerce from the University of Auckland, and a doctorate in statistics from Stanford University. 

Among the possible internal replacements for James as Goizueta dean, one name that stands out is Brian Mitchell, current head of MBA programs. Mitchell earned his MBA from Emory and also has master’s degrees from Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health and Harvard’s Graduate School of Education; and he has a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Georgia. Perhaps most importantly he is a widely respected and liked leader who has been an associate dean at the school since 2011.

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Gareth James’ New Year’s Resolution: Championing the Value of Academic Discovery

MY NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION IS simple: to more forcefully tell the world about the extraordinary impact that higher education – and business schools – have on society.

There’s been a lot of discussion lately about whether universities still matter. I think the confusion stems from the fact that academic research often works on a decades-long timescale. It can be slow, rigorous, and intentionally unflashy—which means its biggest contributions are often hiding in plain sight.

But the impact is undeniable.

From 1996 to 2020 alone, academic technology transfer produced 580,000 inventions, 19,000 startups, more than 200 drugs and vaccines, 6.5 million jobs, and $1 trillion in U.S. GDP. That’s an astonishing return for the investment we make in higher education. And it doesn’t include the thousands of discoveries being made right now that will reach the public in the years ahead.

At Emory, this story is even more dramatic. Over the last 40 years, research conducted at Emory has resulted in more FDA-approved drugs and vaccines than any other university in the country. That includes game-changing HIV treatments that helped transform a fatal disease into a manageable condition, and the development of molnupiravir – one of the first oral antivirals for COVID-19.

My own research area, AI, is a perfect example. While ChatGPT was created by a private research lab, its foundation rests on 70 years of academic advances – in mathematics, computer science, linguistics, psychology, operations research, and statistics. Universities didn’t build the product, but we built the science and the scientists that made it possible.

The truth is we are all beneficiaries of this quiet, persistent engine of discovery. We’ve become so accustomed to progress – vaccines, GPS, the internet, genomics, clean water systems – that we forget that progress often begins in universities. And we ignore that at our peril.

When we look across our own campus today, Goizueta faculty are generating insights that are shaping the future of business and society.

Take generative AI, for example. A recent study co-authored by Vilma Todri and Panagiotis Adamopoulos asked a question many marketers are grappling with: How well does AI actually perform in real advertising settings? Combining lab experiments with Google Ads tests, they found that ads created with visual generative AI can outperform human-designed ads, boosting click-through rates by up to 19 percent. But there’s a catch – simply labeling an ad as AI-generated can sharply reduce its impact. The work demonstrates both the promise and the pitfalls of AI in marketing, offering businesses evidence-based guidance as they navigate a fast-changing digital landscape.

Other Goizueta faculty are investigating the human and societal dimensions of business.

Melissa Williams’ research shows how female leaders face disproportionate scrutiny of their personal lives – and how that scrutiny can quietly discourage women from pursuing senior leadership roles. Michael Lewis is exploring the explosive growth of gaming and esports, revealing how modern fandom blurs the line between watching, playing, and spending. Suhas Sridharan raises important questions about ESG investing, demonstrating how conflicts of interest among ESG raters can inflate scores without delivering better social or environmental outcomes.

The United States has long relied on a three-legged stool of innovation: universities, private industry, and the federal government. If one leg weakens, so does our global competitiveness.

That’s why my resolution for 2026 is to better articulate the essential role that universities – and business schools – play in shaping a thriving society and economy. We can’t assume people understand the value of academic research. We need to trumpet it clearly, proudly, and often.

At Goizueta, I’m fortunate to lead a school that strengthens all three legs of that stool. Our faculty produce research and lead courses that expand human knowledge. Our graduates fuel industries and grow and launch companies. And our partnerships—across Atlanta, across industries, and across the globe—demonstrate what happens when education, innovation, and community work together.

Progress isn’t inevitable. But it is possible, when we commit to supporting the people and institutions that make it happen.

That’s the story I intend to tell more loudly in the year ahead.

DON’T MISS DEANS’ 2026 RESOLUTIONS: B-SCHOOL LEADERS ON HOW THE NEW YEAR WILL BRING NEW TESTS FOR B-SCHOOLS

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