Gareth James

Gareth James became the John H. Harland Dean of Goizueta Business School in July 2022.

James is renowned for his visionary leadership, statistical mastery, and commitment to the future of business education. He brings a powerful optimism and contagious enthusiasm to further Goizueta’s work, not only through the school’s stellar scholarship, but also by continuing to build strong bridges to the business community. He believes in the central role that business plays in society and the impact that Goizueta has in preparing the thinkers and innovators of tomorrow. His ambition to drive excellence and strengthen Goizueta’s future is fueled by his experience in data-informed decision making, strategy, and support.

James is a noted scholar and researcher. His extensive published works include numerous articles, conference proceedings, and book chapters focused on statistical and machine learning methodologies. His work has been cited more than 20,000 times. James is also co-author of the extremely successful textbook, An Introduction to Statistical Learning. He has led multiple National Science Foundation research grants and has served as an associate editor for five top research journals. The recipient of two Dean’s Research Awards from the Marshall School of Business, he is a life member, and elected Fellow, of the American Statistical Association and the Institute of Mathematical Statistics.

His many accolades also encompass honors for his superb teaching and mentoring. James is a recipient of the Evan C. Thompson Faculty Teaching and Learning Innovation Award and three-time winner of the Marshall School of Business’ Golden Apple Award for best instructor in the full-time MBA program. 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.