He earned an MBA and a Ph.D at Stanford before heading off for a three-decade career in global banking. Now Robert Joss is coming back to campus -- as the new head of the Graduate School of Business.
A search committee considered more than 100 candidates from around the world in a seven-month search for a dean to succeed Michael Spence, who said last year that he would step down August 31. President Gerhard Casper announced that Joss, MBA '67, PhD '70, was his pick on April 14.
Starting in 1971, Joss spent 22 years as an executive with Wells Fargo Bank, eventually rising to vice chairman. In 1993 he became CEO of Australia's Westpac Banking Corporation. Under his leadership, Westpac's share price rose 375 percent.
The switch back to academia "represents an exciting career change for me," says Joss, 57. "We're going to take a great place and make it better. I can't wait to get started."
