Prof Gauld (52) has been at Otago for 20 years and at present is head of its largest department, that of preventive and social medicine, and is also founding director of the Centre for Health Systems, spanning the Business School and the Dunedin School of Medicine.
When he takes over the role on December 1, retiring dean Prof George Benwell will have held the position for 10 years.
Prof Gauld said he was looking forward to engaging with the business community to learn what they would like to see the business school focusing on.
"I see very exciting opportunities for closer engagement with business and with our students, who are at the centre of all we do,'' he said in a statement.
Prof Gauld said he wanted to work more closely with the other three academic divisions at Otago, describing commerce as the "wings'' of the university and relevant to much of the research and teaching in other divisions.
Vice-chancellor Prof Harlene Hayne said Prof Gauld was considered to be New Zealand's most authoritative analyst of its healthcare system and co-wrote the influential book Dangerous Enthusiasms, on public sector IT disasters, which was selected as a core text for a Harvard Kennedy School of Government course in knowledge management.
He completed his undergraduate and master's degrees at Victoria University of Wellington and his PhD at the University of Hong Kong and has published more than 115 peer-reviewed articles, 37 book chapters and 11 books.
Prof Gauld's research interests include health policy and management, health services, health systems and e-government. He is a member of the British Academy of Management and of the International Public Management Network.
