Dean, Fuqua School of Business

Dean, Fuqua School of Business
Duke University

The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University is actively seeking an innovative, strategic, and collaborative Dean to lead this distinguished institution into its next era of excellence.

Established in 1969 as the Graduate School of Business Administration and later named for industrialist J.B. Fuqua in 1980, Fuqua, though young among its peers, has consistently ranked amongst the top business schools. This success can be attributed to several factors—most notably, Fuqua’s enduring, future-focused innovation and its willingness to make bold bets. Fuqua has capitalized on its foundational strengths, including the impactful and widely acclaimed research conducted by its exceptionally productive faculty; the global platform provided by Duke University – one of the world’s most respected and well-known academic institutions, and the cultural DNA of Fuqua itself, its emphasis on teamwork and collaboration fondly known as “Team Fuqua.” Above all, Fuqua’s success derives from its early recognition that for business education to remain relevant, it must continually innovate.

As the landscape of higher education, business, and society undergoes transformative shifts, Fuqua aims not only to leverage existing strengths but also to cultivate new capabilities. The next Dean will be well-positioned to take on this challenge, as they will inherit a School with a strong reputation and values, stable leadership, and a strategically diversified program portfolio. From this foundation, the next Dean will harness the spirit of innovation for which Fuqua is known to ‘meet the moment’ in business education.

The Dean will ensure that Fuqua continues to be a leading school that both shapes and responds to the needs of Business. To that end, success will require both strategic and operational excellence in managing Fuqua’s portfolio of educational programs, always with an eye toward protecting and enhancing reputation, as well as ensuring differentiation in a crowded education landscape. In leading and executing strategy for the core academic enterprise of the School, the Dean will build and continue to foster Fuqua’s rigorous commitment to the research enterprise, academic excellence, and scholarship for which the School is known, as these values are an immutable part of its mission.

For both its teaching and research endeavors: a key priority will be to take full advantage of the world-class strengths of Duke University by further deepening collaborations with disciplines and departments across campus. While the opportunities are many, both the Duke Climate Commitment and the Duke Science and Technology Initiative represent just two examples of the potential for broad impact Duke offers, and in which Fuqua can play an even larger role. Beyond the University, too, the Dean will have the opportunity to leverage the unique ecosystem of the vibrant Research Triangle and the growing presence of many tech, life sciences, and finance companies and startups.

In doing all this, the Dean serves as the chief ambassador for the School and ensures its connectivity to various realms, from business to government to media, and of course to Fuqua alumni who span every major industry in principal cities around the world. Importantly, the Dean is the chief fundraiser supporting Fuqua’s mission, engaging a passionate and diverse alumni base of 28,000 strong.

Finally, success of these efforts relies on a Dean who continues to steward and exude Fuqua’s culture, values, and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This responsibility includes engagement and leadership of initiatives within Fuqua and across Duke that seek to address issues of social equity; as well as serving as a recognized, respected thought-leader and champion for these values as they relate to business and society.

Fuqua’s success is a result of the collective efforts of many individuals, yet the Dean plays a pivotal role in ensuring the overall impact surpasses the combined contributions of individual efforts. In short, the Dean establishes the path forward, and their leadership becomes the guiding force for the entire Fuqua community. To capitalize on the extraordinary opportunities available to Fuqua at this moment in time, Fuqua seeks a leader who brings a unique combination of skills, experiences, and traits to the role. These include: vision, passion, and innovation in business education; stewardship of research excellence; a track record of values leadership; operational management; collaboration and integration; and external engagement and fundraising.

About Fuqua School of Business

Today, the Fuqua School of Business is a premier international educational institution that exists to educate business leaders and to assist faculty in the development and dissemination of cutting-edge business knowledge. Fuqua is regularly recognized in public rankings, currently ranked as #11 of the Best Business Schools by the U.S. News & World Report.

The Fuqua School of Business offers four MBA Programs (Daytime, Accelerated Daytime, Global Executive, and Weekend Executive); two Master of Management Programs (Foundations of Business and Duke Kunshan); three online Master of Quantitative Management Programs (Health Analytics, Business Analytics, and Accelerated Business Analytics); a Master of Quantitative Management in Business Analytics; a Ph.D. in Business Administration; and various non-degree executive education programs and certificates.

Faculty drive research and teaching within eight academic areas, each with a rigorous commitment to excellence: accounting; decision sciences; economics; finance; management and organizations; marketing; operations management; and strategy. Fuqua has 111 voting faculty. The faculty are leading scholars in their fields, amongst the most productive and cited faculty in the world.

About Duke University

Duke University, a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU), is a global, research-intensive university, with more than 17,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, more than 189,550 active alumni, more than 4,100 faculty, and approximately 45,502 staff (inclusive of the Duke University Health System).

Duke consists of the following colleges and schools: Trinity College of Arts & Sciences; School of Law; Divinity School; Graduate School; School of Medicine; School of Nursing; Pratt School of Engineering; Fuqua School of Business; Nicholas School of the Environment; and Sanford School of Public Policy.

Duke’s home campus is situated on nearly 9,000 acres in Durham, North Carolina, a city of more than 292,000 people.

Today, Duke maintains a $11.6 billion endowment (FY 2023). It maintains an aggressive giving campaign, with its most recent and largest ever campaign, Duke Forward, raising $3.85 billion over the previous seven years. Record giving by more than 315,000 donors and foundations helped propel Duke Forward past its original goal of $3.25 billion.

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

Duke University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual’s age, color, disability, genetic information, gender, gender identity, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status.