Gareth James is the 10th dean of the UCLA Anderson School of Management and holds the John E. Anderson Chair in Management. He joined UCLA Anderson on July 1, 2026, after serving as the John H. Harland Dean of Emory University’s Goizueta Business School.

An internationally recognized scholar in statistics, data science and machine learning, James has built his career at the intersection of research, teaching and academic leadership. He believes the strongest decisions combine rigorous analysis with sound judgment, and that business schools have a unique responsibility to prepare leaders who can navigate rapid technological change while inspiring people and organizations to thrive.

James is co-author of An Introduction to Statistical Learning, one of the world’s most widely used texts on modern statistical learning. His research has been cited more than 45,000 times, and he has led multiple National Science Foundation-funded projects. He is an elected fellow of both the American Statistical Association and the Institute of Mathematical Statistics and has received numerous awards for both research and teaching.

A native of New Zealand, James earned bachelor’s degrees in science and commerce from the University of Auckland and a Ph.D. in statistics from Stanford University.