Joss, right, joins Phil Knight, MBA '62, founder of Nike, and Stanford president John Hennessy.
Robert L. Joss
Dean, 1999-2009
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Robert L. Joss |
Robert Joss, a leader in global banking, former U.S. Treasury Department official and Stanford PHD, became the eighth dean of the Graduate School of Business in 1999.
Under his tenure, the School launched a major revision of the MBA curriculum and began the process for building a new campus set to open in 2010. He stepped down as dean in August 2009, while continuing to teach at the School.
Prior to becoming dean Joss served for six years as chief executive officer and managing director of Australia's Westpac Banking Corporation. From 1971 to 1993 he 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 PHD 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.
Before joining Wells Fargo, Joss worked in Washington, first as a White House Fellow and then for the Treasury Department as deputy to the assistant secretary for economic policy.
He is currently a director of Citigroup, Bechtel Group, Agilent Technologies Inc., and Makena Capital Management.
Besides his graduate degrees from Stanford, Joss holds a BA in economics, magna cum laude, from the University of Washington.
Joss and his wife, Betty Badger Joss, have two children—son, Randall, and daughter, Jennifer Joss Bradley, both holding Stanford graduate degrees—and five grandchildren.