Paul Pavlou: New UM business dean seeks closer industry connections

This spring, the University of Miami concluded an extensive search for a dean and announced that Paul A. Pavlou, an AI and data science specialist with over 25 years in academia and research, would head the Herbert Business School as of July 1. He succeeded interim dean Ann M. Olzábal, who had served since January 2023 after the resignation of John Quelch, who had held the deanship since 2017.  

For the past five years, Mr. Pavlou led the C.T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston as dean and the Cullen Distinguished Chair Professor. 

Throughout his career, Mr. Pavlou has sought to foster strong relationships with businesses across industries. At Bauer, he worked on building these bridges, an effort that saw nearly 100% of students placed in high-paying jobs after graduation. Mr. Pavlou said he looks forward to continuing this success in Miami as the city expands as a finance and technology hub. 

Before his role in Texas, Mr. Pavlou was senior associate dean for faculty, research, doctoral programs and strategic initiatives at Temple University in Philadelphia. He also served as the Milton F. Stauffer Professor and co-director of the university-wide Data Science Institute.

Mr. Pavlou’s research has been cited over 90,000 times by Google Scholar and he was recognized among the “world’s most influential scientific minds” by Thomson Reuters, according to his curriculum vitae. 

Hailing from Cyprus and coming to the US on a Fulbright scholarship, Mr. Pavlou’s life was transformed by education. As a hands-on leader, he said he hopes his new position will enable him to continue to give back to similar students and provide them with the opportunities and resources to thrive. 

Mr. Pavlou spoke with Miami Today reporter Genevieve Bowen.  

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