The Wharton School Gets First Female Dean

On February 26, 2020, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania announced its appointment of Erika H. James as its incoming dean, effective July 1, 2020. In an announcement, President Amy Gutmann and Provost Wendell Pritchett, described James as “A passionate and visible champion of the power of business and business education to positively transform communities locally, nationally, and globally”.

Dean Erika H. James’s Background

Incoming Dean James currently serves as dean of the Goizueta Business School at Emory University. At Goizueta, Dean James built an entrepreneurship and innovation lab, grew the faculty by 25 percent and expanded corporate engagement by creating a research-based corporate think tank.

James holds a Bachelor’s degree from Pomona College and a Master’s and PhD from the University of Michigan. James is an active board member of GMAC, Survey Monkey and formerly served on the board of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) – a leading accrediting body in business education.

Big Shoes to Fill

James will be the 14th Dean of the Wharton School and its first female Dean. She has big shoes to fill as she takes on the deanship from Dean Geoffrey Garrett who served as the dean of the Wharton School for the past six years and is now moving to University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business in LA. Garrett has significant accomplishments to his name – securing almost $1 billion in a highly successful fundraising campaign called ‘More Than Ever’, leading the school to impressive rankings and overseeing construction of two new buildings – Tangen Hall and Wharton Academic Research Building.