GGU Announces New Dean for the Ageno School of Business

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 13, 2016 -- Golden Gate University (GGU) welcomes Dr. Gordon Swartz as the new dean of the Edward S. Ageno School of Business.

“Dr. Gordon Swartz brings to GGU a strong blend of academic knowledge and experience launching and growing entrepreneurial businesses as well as transforming industry-leading global firms for high performance,” said GGU President Dr. David J. Fike. “His expertise in these areas will be extremely valuable as he focuses on building and strengthening partnerships with the business community in order to identify and provide new training and educational opportunities.”

Swartz holds a Doctor of Business Administration degree from Harvard University, a High Technology MBA from Northeastern University and bachelor degrees in nuclear engineering and political science from MIT. His professional background is extensive and varied, combining business school teaching, research and administration with strategy consulting and development of high-growth organizations.

The new dean’s arrival coincides with GGU’s development of professionally focused initiatives at the graduate and undergraduate levels designed to engage new students, San Francisco Bay Area employers, alumni and community partners. In support of these innovations, GGU’s Undergraduate Programs has become a division within the Ageno School of Business, reporting directly to Dr. Swartz, further enabling business education throughout the university to benefit from shared expertise of faculty and market and programmatic synergies.

“Dean Swartz will drive new programs at the cutting edge of business transformations worldwide to educate the next generation of business leaders. His experience in go-to-market strategy, multi-channel marketing and sales improvement, predictive business analytics, voice of the customer research, brand building strategy, and organizational change and leadership will be important assets to Ageno and Golden Gate in our next phase of growth,” said President Fike.

Early in his career, Swartz served as the deputy dean of the MBA program at the London Business School, where he was also an assistant professor of marketing. More recently, he was the associate dean of executive education at Georgetown University, where he led the design and launch of the school’s Global Executive MBA programs. Swartz has been a frequent speaker at the nation’s elite business schools and until recently was adjunct professor in Northwestern University’s master’s degree program in predictive analytics. His articles and case studies have been published in distinguished academic journals, including the Journal of Service Research, Sloan Management Review, Marketing Management and the Harvard Business Review.

Prior to his work in academia, Swartz served as an intelligence officer for the Central Intelligence Agency and worked as a management consultant, providing clients with a wide range of go-to market strategy and implementation and market analysis services. As vice president of MarketBridge, Inc., he led major marketing, sales strategy and transformation efforts for Fortune Global 500 companies.

The national search for Ageno’s new dean began following Dean Paul Fouts’ announcement earlier this year that he would retire from his position as Ageno’s dean. Fouts will take a sabbatical leave and return to GGU as a faculty member in 2017.

Dr. Swartz looks forward to contributing to the next chapter in the history of GGU and the Ageno School of Business. “One of the great attractions of Golden Gate University is its long, vibrant history of contributing to the advancement and outstanding achievements of professionals and organizations in San Francisco’s world-changing business environment.  The Bay Area is a world leader in so many areas of endeavor—high tech, medicine and health care, finance, global business, public administration—and GGU has been at the core of this global community for more than a hundred years!” said Swartz.

“I feel very fortunate to join GGU and the Ageno School of Business, and to have a chance to work with GGU’s global community—its faculty, staff, students, alumni and partner organizations—to explore new ideas, deliver innovative programs and open new doors of opportunity.”

About Golden Gate University
Since 1901, non-profit Golden Gate University (GGU) has been helping adults achieve their professional goals by providing high quality, practice-based undergraduate and graduate educational programs in law, taxation, business and related professions in an innovative and challenging learning environment that embraces professional ethics and diversity.

Media Contacts:

Silvia Baroni, Associate Director of Communications & Media Relations
Golden Gate University 
[email protected]
415-442-6522