Erika James is now the dean of Emory University’s Goizueta Business School in Atlanta, Georgia. While three minority women are currently serving as deans at other American colleges of business, James will be the first to lead a full-time MBA program at a top-25 business school.
James, who has a Ph.D. in organizational psychology, will officially assume her title on July 15th. She is currently the senior associate dean at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, where she oversees the school’s executive education programs. She also teaches as a visiting professor at Harvard Business School.
James graduated from the University of Michigan, and has also done scholarly work on crisis leadership. She has also served as a consultant for numerous Fortune 500 companies, helping them with crisis leadership, women in leadership, and commuter relationships. In 2008, she was named Darden’s first Associate Dean of Diversity, and was given the task to create a more inclusive environment on campus.
She has authored numerous papers and multi-media case studies that were published in notable academic journals, and speaks at academic and professional conferences on her topics of research.
Emory Provost Claire Sterk, comments, “Erika James has all of the qualities that we want for a leader at Goizueta. She brings a background of impressive scholarship and strong skills in academic administration, and she will work collaboratively with faculty, students, staff, alumni and supporters to take the school to the next level.”
She also emphasized that James' race and gender were not driving factors in the school's hiring decision.
For more details about Erika James, visit her web site at:
www.erikahayesjames.com