New Emory dean to women: "There is no one way to do your life!"
FORTUNE -- Erika Hayes James never thought she would end up with a career in academia. After finishing her doctoral dissertation at the University Of Michigan in 1995, the Bermuda native pursued job offers in the corporate and consulting world. Yet a well-trusted advisor asked that she try working as a professor for just one year. James decided to give it a go.
Twenty years later, James finds herself making history as the first African-American woman to lead an elite American business school. Calling herself the "accidental academic," James will become dean of Emory's Goizueta Business School on July 15th. In an exclusive interview with Fortune, James discusses her plans for her new role as well as the role she sees herself playing to correct the diversity imbalance plaguing business education.
Edited excerpts:
How did you react when you found out you got the job as dean of Emory?
The reaction was one of pure joy for me and for the opportunity this creates for Goizueta. There is such a strong alignment with my vision and the school's visions and needs. The overarching values of the school are focused on principle leadership, integrity and ethics, and excellence in all dimensions. Excellence is what it's trying to create for the students at the school and excellence in the faculty and that's something that I've tried to make a cornerstone of my own career. It seemed like a natural fit.
Has the historical significance of your appointment as dean to a top business school impacted you at all?
Going through the process, it really had not. But after seeing the press and how people are reacting to my appointment as a woman and an African-American leading a top business school, it has. When I see it in print, the reality of what that really means hits me. It is not something I spent a lot of time contemplating, but I see why it is so significant. I want to make sure to live up to the expectations I have for myself and the expectations that everyone who cares about business education have for me for this role.
http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2014/05/20/new-emory-dean-to-women-there-is-no-one-way-to-do-your-life/
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