Earlier this month, Emory’s Goizueta Business School named J. B. Kurish to serve as the associate dean of its full-time MBA program. Kurish, a finance professor, was selected for the role after a comprehensive national search.
“We wanted the best, and we weren’t going to settle for anything less,” said Larry Benveniste, dean of Goizueta Business School, of the appointment. “The committee interviewed four finalists, and the person encompassing all of the qualities we wanted was our own J.B. Kurish,” he continued.
Goizueta engaged executive search firm Egon Zehnder to conduct a national search. Tom Key, a Goizueta alumnus, served as principal on the search committee, which was made up of current and former students, faculty and staff. Among the qualifications the committee looked for in candidates were visionary leadership, respected academic credentials, great communications skills and selfless commitment.
Kurish will replace Steve Walton, Goizueta associate professor of information systems and operations management, who has served as interim associate dean for more than a year. Walton will return to full-time teaching.
Kurish came to Goizueta in the fall of 2006. He is an expert in the field of municipal debt issuance and municipal debt market practices, having managed public debt offerings for more than 15 cities and states throughout the United States. Before joining Goizueta, he taught at the University of Illinois at Chicago, ran his own firm and worked as a public finance investment banker for Credit Suisse First Boston.
Kurish’s appointment was met by a standing ovation from an audience made up primarily students. Kurish acknowledged the warm reception with humor, saying, “I am aware that there are about 120 of you who are still awaiting your grades.”
“I have a lot of ideas,” Kurish continued on a more serious note. “I also know that everyone else has good ideas. My job is to take those good ideas and make them work.”
In just two short years at Goizueta, Kurish has taken and active role in developing the new curriculum for the full-time MBA program. In addition to teaching in the full-time program, he also has taught in the evening MBA and the W. Cliff Oxford Executive MBA programs.
