Ralph James is Executive Director of External Relations at Harvard Business School. He is responsible for development and alumni relations activities for HBS. Prior to taking the External Relations role, Ralph was the Executive Director of Executive Education at Harvard Business School. He was responsible for the management of the School’s open enrollment and custom executive education programs. James attended the College of Wooster in Ohio and received his BA from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1977. He received his MBA from Harvard in 1982. Over the next 15 years, he held several different positions at HBS in the areas of Executive Education, MBA admissions, major gift fundraising, finally serving as Associate Dean and Senior Executive Officer under Deans McArthur and Clark. In 1996, James left HBS to join the First Marblehead Corporation, as Chief Marketing Officer, becoming Chief Operating Officer in 1998 and President in 2000 prior to the company going public in 2003. In 2005, Ralph stepped down from his role as Vice Chairman to return to Harvard Business School. James and his wife Janice have three children: Greg, Katie and Becca.