When Bruce R. Magid was a sophomore in high school, a Latin American history and culture class captured his imagination. "I had never been out of the country, and I said: 'That's really cool, that's what I want to do. I want to travel the world,'" Magid recalls.

This year, at the age of 56, Magid takes on the post of dean of the International Business School to replace Peter A. Petri, the founding dean.

Magid's interest in international business started with the history and culture course he took in high school, but it didn't stop there.

"I was interested in how countries interact with each other," he says. "I couldn't decide between working for the World Bank or joining the U.S. services. I traveled to different countries, and my interest in international [relations] was what led me to international banking."

Magid moved to Venezuela after graduating from college to finish his multidisciplinary Ph.D. in international economics, comparative politics and business law, which he had started at the Fletcher School at Tufts University. After receiving his Ph.D in 1977, Magid landed a job as the senior advisor to the minister of planning in Caracas, Venezuela while pursuing his doctoral work. He then worked in Venezuela for Bank of America as a senior vice president and managing director for 21 years.

As a Ph.D. student in Venezuela, Magid immersed himself in the cultural life of the country.

"One of the most stirring moments is [Venezuela's] Independence Day during the 5th of July . What was so interesting was the multicultural mix of Venezuelan people, and everybody took great pride in the founder, Símon Bolívar," Magid says. "Símon Bolívar is a symbol of economic development and vision for social justice."

Magid mentions that two volumes of Bolívar's work sit on his office shelf.

Leaving his cell phone and computer behind, Magid says he took weekend road trips to the Caribbean Sea and the Indies Mountains.

"My job was in Caracas, and I went to the iron ore plants, but I was in my 20s and I wanted to explore on the weekends, so [my friends and I] got in my car, and we just drove to the Orinoco River," Magid says.

"You can even go down and see the waterfalls. [The Argentinians] were exploring aluminum, so you saw economic development at the same time," he says.

After 25 years in the private sector, Magid felt the tug to return to the educational world. "I always knew when I received my Ph.D. back in 1977 that I wanted to go into higher education," he says. "While I was working at Bank of America I [gave] guest lectures at universities and prepared management training programs. I realized how much I enjoyed teaching and interacting with students," he says.

Before he came to Brandeis, Magid worked as the founding executive director of MSU Global, Michigan State University's education business unit, and was dean of the Lucas Graduate School of Business at San José State University.

Magid says he's excited to work for a private university this time around.

"Both of those universities are public universities, so one of the real benefits of Brandeis is the intimate setting. What's particularly exciting is a blend of emphasis on economics, finance and business. Most business schools don't incorporate the economics background into their curriculum," Magid says.

Moving his family-wife Alexis, a Texas native who does not-for-profit work, and daughter Shelby, 14- from the "heart of Silicon Valley" to the East Coast, Magid hopes his career here will help him develop his leadership skills and allow him to get reacquainted with home. Magid grew up in Sharon, Mass.

Magid's son, Mike, 28, is a soccer coach and an aspiring movie actor. His elder daughter, Laura, is 26 and living and volunteering in Nepal.

"I looked at IBS and I saw an opportunity to build a really unique business school with a global focus, which is my background. Most business schools teach general management. We're here to develop ethical principled leaders, and that's very exciting," Magid says.

Magid is also trading in California sunshine for family and friends in the Boston area.

"It's a wonderful opportunity to get back to the city that I grew up in and be with friends and family," he says. Magid says Boston has become more cosmopolitan since he last lived here, and he hopes that its appeal will draw more international students to the city. As of now, 49 percent of the business school's 438 students are international, Magid reported at last Thursday's faculty meeting.

"Boston was a more parochial city than a cosmopolitan city," he says. "When I grew up it was still industrial-based, and now there's a much more global field to it."

"It's a modern, diverse city in so many ways," he says.

Magid hopes to return one day to Latin America, and perhaps even chat with current Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. He looks forward to touring Latin America to recruit more students to IBS.

"I believe that being in Boston [could] be more attractive for student in Latin America who may not be aware of our international business school. They tend to go to school in Florida and other places, and my goal is to expand [IBS'] visibility," Magid says. "We have a great soccer team too."

"I also want to take a look at creating some additional regional centers-It might be U.S.-Latin America or U.S.-Israel-and deepen our ties with some of the institutions in these countries."

While working in Venezuela, Magid spoke fluent Spanish, and today he jokes about the Portuguese he picked up in Brazil: "Eu nao falo o portuguas muito bem. [I do not speak Portuguese very well]."

As part of Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service's class of '73, he spent a summer in Mexico during his freshman year. In his junior year Magid was the recipient of his doctoral scholarship. Cross-cultural fluency is important to Magid.

"I spent years [in] educational research, work, and experiential living throughout the Caribbean, Middle East, Europe and Asia. Today's business is valuing other cultures," he says.

For his position at IBS, Magid plans to incorporate leadership skills with the "seamless bottom line" of ethical behavior.

"I want [students] to be very good in business but have an obligation to support the community, and also to be advocates of global sustainability. They are graduating with a responsibility to not only be successful business people but to give back to society," Magid says.

Magid has a detailed to raise IBS' profile.

"Our goal is to be recognized as one of the top 10 business schools in the United States," he says.

As he describes the future of IBS, Magid takes out The Economist's 2007 rankings, Intelligence Unit, to show the business school's spot at 60, up 20 slots from the previous year: "We already have a very good reputation but there is a phrase that is used in business: From good to great. I want us to go from very good to great."

Magid hopes to establish contacts with companies to get corporate support, as well as internships and job opportunities for students. For the future, Magid is looking to hire additional faculty and staff to expand the business school and connect with overseas universities and internship programs.

Magid approaches IBS as he would a marketed product. "IBS is first and foremost like a hidden gem. The first thing that we need to do is publicize the program. We need to raise the brand awareness, continue and accelerate the upward trajectory," he says.