Interview with Dean Joss, Stanford Graduate School of Busine

Editor's Note: Xing Talk is a new column runs regularly by Xing Zong, a Chinese graduate student at Duke University pursuing a Ph.D. degree in physics. As a rocket scientist, Xing’s passion also lies in writing and interacting with people. He contributes to regularly with his interesting interviews of Presidents in U.S. top universities, Nobel Laureates, business/law school deans and leading academicians. As Xing said, “my biggest discovery after arriving in U.S. was that my first name “Xing” had a nice interpretation of the on-road sign crossing. Indeed, I stand at the cross road of two different cultures and eager to connect Uncle Sam and Red Dragon.” Recently Xing held an exclusive interview with Prof. Joss, Dean of Stanford Graduate School of Business.


Dean Robert L. Joss, Philip H. Knight Professor and Dean, Stanford Graduate School of Business

About Dean Robert L. Joss, Philip H. Knight Professor and Dean, Stanford Graduate School of Business

Robert Joss, a leader in global banking, former Treasury Department official and Stanford Ph.D., became the eighth dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1999. He was the school’s first dean from industry in 17 years. Joss started his tenure as dean after six years as chief executive officer and managing director of Australia's Westpac Banking Corporation. From 1971 to 1993 he had held a variety of posts at San Francisco-based Wells Fargo Bank, rising to the position of vice chairman.

No stranger to the Business School at the time of his appointment, Joss was a Sloan fellow in 1965-66, earned an MBA in 1967 and a Ph.D. in 1970, writing his dissertation on the market for commercial paper. He was a member of the school's Advisory Council, a group of business executives that helps shape the school's future.

As head of Westpac, one of Australia's largest banks, Joss was credited with refocusing the bank strategically, modernizing and streamlining operations and restructuring the bank's culture to emphasize teamwork, customer focus, open communication, and community support. The bank's shareholders also benefited substantially during his tenure and since his retirement.

As dean of the Business School, he is currently overseeing the development of a new MBA Curriculum to be put in place for the class entering in September 2007 as well as fundraising and planning for a new $275 million business school campus at Stanford anticipated to start construction in 2008.