Paulo Goes named dean of Freeman School

Paulo Goes, Dean and Halle Chair in Leadership at the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management, has been named dean of Tulane University’s A. B. Freeman School of Business, effective Aug. 23, 2021. 

“The ability to attract leading scholars and administrators such as Dean Goes is a testament to the Freeman School’s growing stature and national reputation and sets it on an exciting trajectory for the future,” Tulane President Michael A. Fitts and Provost Robin Forman wrote in a university-wide message announcing the appointment. “As a preeminent scholar, professor, author, researcher and administrator, Paulo will be a perfect fit for our school.”

As dean of Eller College, Goes built nationally recognized interdisciplinary programs in entrepreneurship and innovation, digital transformation, economics and business while prioritizing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. He implemented a strategic plan for Eller and oversaw incredible growth of its online graduate programs in management information systems, cybersecurity, healthcare management and accounting. 

During his deanship, Eller’s online MBA has been recognized as a Top 10 program by U.S. News & World Report. Under his direction, the college’s Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) continues to be a top quality program, attracting 20 percent of the University of Arizona's first-year students and boasting a 90 percent placement rate. The online BSBA also grew in enrollments and serves as a platform for innovative micro campus programs in Cambodia, Indonesia and Peru. Goes also rebuilt the school’s fundraising, alumni relations and corporate relations programs.

“I am honored to be the next dean of the A.B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane. Freeman is very well positioned to lead in business education into the future with many significant ingredients already in place: great research faculty; strengths in the key business areas; innovative programs; a highly collaborative spirit; focus on student success through experiential learning, global activities and entrepreneurship,” Goes said. 

Goes added that he experienced an “immediate connection” with Tulane. 

“I felt great alignment between my own experience and academic principles and Freeman’s mission and goals for the future. There was an immediate connection with all the stakeholders I met through the selection process. I’m eager to be part of creating the future of business education in such an exciting environment.”

A native of Brazil, Goes earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil, and a master’s in production engineering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. He began a career in civil engineering before immigrating to the U.S. and earning a master’s in operations research and a PhD in business administration from the University of Rochester. 

Goes’ work regularly appears in leading academic journals, and he often presents and delivers keynote addresses at national conferences in the field of information systems. From 2013 to 2015, he was editor-in-chief of Management Information Systems Quarterly, the most prestigious journal in that field.

Before assuming his current deanship in March 2016, Goes served nearly eight years as head of the nationally ranked Department of Management Information Systems (MIS) and the Salter Distinguished Professor of Management and Technology at the University of Arizona. 

Goes will replace Ira Solomon, who will step down this month after 10 years as dean of the Freeman School. Solomon led Freeman through a substantial period of growth, which included the transformation of the school’s home into the Goldring/Woldenberg Business Complex and expansion of Freeman’s footprint downtown via the opening of the Stewart Center CBD. 

Ted Fee, senior associate dean and Morton A. Aldrich Professor of Business, will serve as interim dean from July 1 to Aug. 22 before Goes begins his term.