Biography

Gonzalo Freixes, J.D., is an adjunct professor in the accounting area and serves as associate dean of the Fully Employed MBA program. A native Cuban, Freixes and his parents immigrated to the U.S. in the early 1960s as refugees of the communist regime in that country.

Freixes chose to study law for several reasons: the positive impact he believed lawyers can have on a society (“something I very much appreciated as a refugee from an authoritarian regime”), and the enjoyment of litigating in the courtroom. A licensed attorney in the State of California since 1979, Freixes came to UCLA Anderson in 1990 at the invitation of a colleague. He taught business law classes for several years while maintaining a full-time law practice. Once he fell in love with teaching, he reversed his professional roles, teaching law and tax classes full time and practicing law part time.

Since joining UCLA Anderson, Freixes has held positions as faculty director for the Applied Management Research MBA field study program and as associate dean of the Executive MBA program as well as the Global Immersion program. In addition to his administrative duties, Freixes teaches business law, international business law, business ethics, corporate and individual taxation, and real estate law and taxation in the MBA program and in the undergraduate accounting minor.

What he most enjoys is “being in the classroom and traveling the world with our students in our global programs.” He has lectured in Brazil, Spain, France, Holland, Argentina, South Africa, Belgium and Chile on international business and tax subjects as well as on corporate governance, business ethics, international business law and trial advocacy. He has been faculty director of international seminars for Executive MBA programs from other top business schools, including IE Business School (Madrid), Essec Business School (Paris) and Mannheim Business School (Mannheim, Germany). Previously, he taught International business law and business law at California State University, Northridge.

For the last 18 years that Freixes has served as the faculty advisor and coach for the UCLA Mock Trial Program, UCLA has won the national mock trial championship four times.

Freixes served on the board of trustees of the Executive MBA Council and was board chair in 2012. He was an elected official with the Newhall School board of trustees (serving two years as president) and also served three years on the State Bar of California’s Judicial Nominees Commission, where he evaluated the California Governor’s judicial nominees for the Supreme, Appellate, Superior and Municipal Courts.

Freixes is fluent in four languages — Spanish, English, French and Catalan. He serves regularly as a commentator on business ethics, tax issues and international business for both English and Spanish media.