Sarah A. Soule, longtime faculty and professor of organizational behavior, is set to be the next dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) effective June 16, succeeding the interim dean, Peter DeMarzo M.S. ’85 Ph.D. ’89.
DeMarzo, the John G. McDonald Professor of Finance, assumed the position following Jonathan Levin’s ’94 appointment as president of the University. Levin had served as dean of the GSB for nearly a decade until 2024.
Soule called her new role a “profound honor” and remarked that the GSB, currently in its centennial year, is at “an exciting moment to find new ways to support our faculty in their cutting-edge research and build on a century-long legacy of academic excellence,” she wrote in an email to The Daily.
Soule, who formerly served as co-director of Stanford’s VMware Women’s Leadership Innovation Lab’s Corporate Program, will be the first woman to serve as dean of the GSB since its founding in 1925. The school began awarding degrees to women in 1930. Now, the MBA program is 44% female.
“Now, more than ever, the world needs responsible leaders, and business plays an important role in addressing the most critical issues of our time,” Soule wrote.
Levin believes Soule “will bring energy and fresh ideas,” to the role and commended her “deep commitment to supporting the school’s faculty and students,” he wrote in an email to The Daily.
Levin and Soule were colleagues at the GSB for 16 years, both becoming faculty in 2008.
“During the time we worked together at the business school, I watched her take on many responsibilities and challenges with grace and determination, and inevitably admired her ability to bring people together and inspire them,” Levin wrote.
Soule received her bachelor of arts in sociology from University of Vermont in 1989. From there, she continued her education at Cornell University, where she received her master’s in sociology in 1991 and her Ph.D., also in sociology, four years later. At Cornell, her research focused on social movements, and she completed her dissertation on the tactics and policy of the student anti-apartheid movements in the United States.
Since joining Stanford in 2008, Soule has held a number of roles including as the Morgridge Professor of Organizational Behavior, the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and the Sara Miller McCune Director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. Her research has continued to focus on social movements and organizations, with her recent publications considering the intersection of social movements and corporations.
Graduate Student Council representative Chris West MBA ’25 wrote to The Daily that he is “eager to engage with [Soule’s] vision for the future of the GSB and see how her leadership will propel us forward.”
Robert Burgelman, the Edmund W. Littlefield Professor of Management and longtime colleague of Soule at the GSB, remarked that “the appointment of Professor Sarah Soule as Dean is great for both the GSB and Stanford University,” specifically highlighting her capabilities as a social science researcher and her teaching prowess.
Burgelman hopes that her close relationship with Levin can “further cement a close relationship between the GSB and the University.”
“Together with our exceptional community, I look forward to preparing the next generation of leaders who will change organizations and change the world,” Soule wrote.
George Porteous contributed reporting.