Dean, School of Business

Dean, School of Business

The George Washington University

The George Washington University’s School of Business (GWSB) seeks a forward-thinking, innovative, and dynamic academic leader, with demonstrated experience and proven success in building collaborative programs across a university, delivering operational excellence, building a vibrant organizational culture and raising funds to support these initiatives as its next Dean. 

The Dean will join at an exciting and critical moment for the University. With the recent inauguration of a new President and the University’s recent inclusion in the Association of American Universities (AAU), there is a window of opportunity to position the School of Business as an integral part of the University’s elevated research mandate, to seize upon opportunities for collaboration and partnership with other academic units across the institution, to build momentum with other brand-defining programs with Fortune 500 companies and Federal Government agencies on the doorsteps of GW, and to further raise the School’s own national and international research profile.

GWSB, founded in 1928 and accredited by the AACSB in 1977, is the largest business school in metropolitan Washington and is recognized as a leading business school. GWSB comprises eight academic departments: Accountancy, Decision Sciences, Finance, Information Systems and Technology Management, International Business, Management, Marketing, and Strategic Management and Public Policy. GWSB supports scholars whose work appears in top-ranked business journals, including faculty members listed among the most-cited scholars in their fields. GWSB houses 13 research centers and institutes, including one of the country’s 16 federally funded Centers for International Business Education and Research. Its 115 full-time faculty are innovators on business and social issues, offering cross-disciplinary solutions for a rapidly changing business environment and informing local, state, federal, and international policy on a range of issues.

The Dean is the chief academic and administrative officer of GWSB and reports to the Provost. The next Dean will inherit a school that is well-positioned to continue its success in a competitive, changing market, with distinct assets and advantages to leverage in a crowded business school landscape. Sustaining this momentum going forward will require new and strategic investments in the student, faculty, and staff experience including, but not limited to, a focus on research capacity (including doctoral programs), undergraduate and graduate student recruitment, and alumni engagement.

The next Dean will be adept at making connections between the School’s signature research areas and donors and funding providers. The Dean will lead with a continued focus on excellence in its programs, including scaling those programs where appropriate; forge innovative partnerships with other schools at GW; leverage local and international business, policy, and government relationships; and fundraising that keeps pace with the advancement trends across business education. Finally, GWSB’s strong alumni base provides opportunities for the Dean to tap into significant potential for support on profile-raising, strength-building, and alumni engagement with students.

The Dean will bring a successful record of collegial decision making relevant to a complex academic setting and an outstanding record of scholarly achievement and an international reputation in the broader scholarly community. This is a tenured faculty position, and the successful candidate must have a record of scholarship deserving of tenure within one of GWSB’s eight departments. Consistent with GW’s culture of faculty governance, it will be important that the Dean values and upholds that tradition and approach in all decisions.

The successful candidate will demonstrate a commitment to active engagement with students, faculty, staff, and external stakeholders while fostering a sense of belonging and advancing the School's core value of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The Dean will exemplify an approach that showcases the University’s dedication to student success and wellbeing.

GW is the largest university in the nation’s capital and the only D.C. institution of higher education in the Association of American Universities (AAU). Chartered in 1821 by the U.S. Congress to fulfill President George Washington’s vision of a premier institution for higher learning in the U.S. capital, GW has evolved into a major, urban-centered research university with two campuses located in Washington, D.C. (at Foggy Bottom and Mount Vernon), and a third in Loudoun County, Virginia.

The University is a private institution consisting of approximately 2,700 full-time faculty members. Its approximately 10,700 undergraduate students and 13,000 graduate and professional students presently come from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and 138 countries. Among the finest public and private research universities, GW is a comprehensive university with broad responsibility for education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Initial screening of applicants will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. The George Washington University will be assisted by Jackie Zavitz, Meghan Ashbrock, and Sulli Cressler of Heidrick & Struggles, Inc. Nominations and applications should be directed to: GWSBdean@heidrick.com

The university is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer that does not unlawfully discriminate in any of its programs or activities on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or on any other basis prohibited by applicable law.