"Transformational" Saїd Business School Dean Peter Tufano to step down

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Nicky Godding

The Dean of the Saїd Business School, University of Oxford, Peter Tufano has announced that he will be completing his 10 years of service next year and stepping down on 30 June 2021.

The school paid tribute to Peter Tufano, saying his leadership has been transformative. The School built upon the first 15 years of its history, turning the ambition of becoming a world-class business school that tackles world-scale problems into reality, and creating a force for justice in business. Since 2011 significant progress has been made in developing the School’s teaching programmes, research, professional services, executive education, facilities, University relations and faculty compensation.

Notable successes have included: a new Executive Education building; the conception and launch of the Oxford Foundry (the entrepreneurship centre available to students across the University); innovative programmes and modules such as GOTO, 1+1 MBA, open digital programmes, Creative Destruction Lab; impactful events series (most recently the Leadership in Extraordinary Times broadcasts).

However, perhaps the School’s most remarkable achievement during Dean Tufano’s tenure is the great strides it has been made in attracting diverse cohorts. When Tufano became Dean in 2011, 24 per cent of the cohort were women, and five per cent were African. In 2019-20 MBA cohort, 44 per cent are women, and 13 per cent of the cohort are from Africa.

"This coming year is not one for hesitation," Dean Tufano said. "While the search for my successor will begin immediately, we cannot put things on hold for a year. Rather, we need to work together even more closely in the coming year to ensure that we deliver the absolute best experience for our students, continue to do excellent research, and use our power to try to address the fallout of Covid-19, Brexit, an economic depression, severe inequality, racial injustice and a climate emergency.'

Dean Tufano was preceded as Dean of Saїd Business School by Professor Colin Mayer (2006-2011), Professor Anthony Hopwood (1999-2006) and Professor John Kay (1996-1998).

The University will begin the search for a successor.

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.