James George Ellis (born 9 Jan 1947

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

) is an American academician, professor, and former business executive who, for the last years, was the dean of the

Marshall School of Business The USC Marshall School of Business is the business school of the University of Southern California. It is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. In 1997 the school was renamed following a $35 million donation fr ...

at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Early life and education

Ellis spent his early years in California. When Ellis was thirteen (1960), his family moved to

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

, where his father, George James Ellis (1921–2003), served as an executive for a bank; then in 1962, he co-founded the American Bank of Commerce in Albuquerque. In Albuquerque, Ellis attended Jefferson Middle School and Highland High School, graduating in 1964. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1968 from the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

, where he served on the board of the university's fund-raising foundation. Ellis earned an MBA in 1970 from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. Ellis has been married to Gail Ellis,

Psy.D. The Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D. or D.Psych.) is a professional doctoral degree intended to prepare graduates for careers that apply Science, scientific knowledge of psychology and deliver empirically based service to individuals, groups and org ...

(formerly Sullivan, ''née'' Galvin), a clinical psychologist, since 1985. Dr. Ellis is the daughter of longtime CEO of

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent p ...

Robert W. Galvin Robert William "Bob" Galvin (October 9, 1922 – October 11, 2011) was an American executive. He was the son of the founder of Motorola, Paul Galvin, and served as the CEO of Motorola from 1959 to 1986. Motorola career Born in Marshfield, Wiscon ...

, granddaughter of the founder, Paul Vincent Galvin, and sister of third family generation CEO,

Christopher Galvin Christopher B. Galvin (born March 21, 1950) is an American businessman. He served as the chairman and chief executive officer of Motorola from 1997 to 2003. Early life Christopher Galvin is the grandson of Paul Galvin, the founder of Motorola, ...

. The couple resides in

San Marino, California San Marino is a residential city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It was incorporated on April 25, 1913. At the 2010 census the population was 13,147. The city is one of the wealthiest places in the nation in terms of househol ...

, and have five children, all adult age.

Career

Ellis is an expert on global commerce, a successful business

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dire ...

and prominent civic leader in the Los Angeles area. Ellis was named USC Marshall dean and holder of the Robert R. Dockson Dean's Chair in

Business Administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

on April 4, 2007, succeeding interim Dean

Thomas W. Gilligan Thomas W. Gilligan is an American economist who was the Tad and Dianne Taube Director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University from 2015 to 2020. Prior to taking over as head of the Stanford-based think tank, he served as dean of the McC ...

, who returned to his position as a USC Marshall professor of finance and business economics. As dean of USC Marshall, Ellis oversees a complete array of business-education programs that annually serve more than 5,600 undergraduate, graduate, professional, doctoral and executive-education students. The school teaches about a quarter of all USC undergraduates, and has more students taking its minor than any on the campus. Most recently, Ellis served as USC's Vice Provost of

Globalization Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...

, a position he held for 16 months. In that position, he developed a university-wide initiative encompassing international instructional and research programs, managing USC overseas offices and coordinating visits by foreign dignitaries. He had been USC Marshall’s vice dean of external relations and spent a decade as a clinical professor in USC Marshall's

Marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

Department, where he applied his expertise in

commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

issues facing several

Pacific Rim The Pacific Rim comprises the lands around the rim of the Pacific Ocean. The ''Pacific Basin'' includes the Pacific Rim and the islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Rim roughly overlaps with the geologic Pacific Ring of Fire. List of co ...

countries. In addition to his administrative endeavors, Ellis also taught upper-division courses in the

department and the Freshman Honors Colloquium, a course designed to introduce incoming "business scholars" to highly successful leaders in a variety of fields. Ellis has received numerous teaching awards from student, alumni and other organizations. Ellis had a lengthy career in the business world before joining academia, working in senior management or director positions with Broadway Department Stores, American

Porsche Design Porsche Design is a German product design studio and brand founded in 1972 by F. A. Porsche, the designer of the original Porsche 911, known for its high-end accessories including sunglasses, pens, and watches. The current legal instantiation of ...

Miller's Outpost Anchor Blue Laguna Hills. Anchor Blue Inc. (formerly Miller's Outpost) was an American clothing retailer which had over 100 stores in the western United States. It generally sold its own Anchor Blue brand name of youth-oriented denim, graphic T-s ...

, and several other companies. He has served on the

boards of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

of such corporate and non-profit organizations as the

Young Presidents' Organization YPO (formerly Young Presidents' Organization) is an American-based worldwide leadership community of chief executives with approximately 29,000 members in more than 130 countries, according to the organization's 2019 YPO international fact sheet. ...

, Kidspace Children Museum, Pasadena Chamber of Commerce, Chief Executives Organization and World Presidents' Organization.

References

General references
About USC - Administration
Secondary inline citations {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, James 1947 births University of New Mexico alumni Harvard Business School alumni University of Southern California faculty Living people People from San Marino, California Business school deans