Last modified: Monday, November 18, 2002
New book tells the story of business education at Indiana University
Joseph Waldman first stepped on the campus of Indiana University Bloomington in 1956 to pursue a master of business degree. More than 40 years later, he retired as a faculty member and chair of the Kelley School of Business' undergraduate program.
In the case of Waldman, however, the word retiring would not accurately describe the New Jersey native. After his retirement in 1999, the management professor turned to his love of history to create an interesting new book on the history of business education at IU.
His book, Indiana University Kelley School of Business: The First One Hundred Years of Education for Business - 1902-2002, is expected to be available to visitors at the school's dedication of its Graduate and Executive Education Center this Friday (Nov. 22).
"This written account grows out of a series of tapes illustrating the school's history that I began to produce upon my retirement in 1999," Waldman said. "I always thought that a documented history of the school was long overdue and I had tried to influence other writers to do it without success. My long experience with the School of Business gave me an advantage over outside professionals to write the history.
"Many of the early faculty members who were important players in the development of the school -- such as Eddie Edwards, Nate Silverstein, Harry Sauvain and John Mee -- were my teachers during my graduate student days at IU. Some of these faculty members were students of the original faculty members of the school. So I felt as though I had roots dating back to the very beginning."
Waldman, the Lawrence D. Glaubinger professor emeritus of business administration, wrote the book with help from Andra Klemkosky, the Kelley School's associate director of communications and marketing. He joined the IU faculty in 1963 and served as the school's associate dean for administration for 12 years and as chairman of its undergraduate program for 16 years.
He served in some way with every person who has been a business dean at IU Bloomington, with the exception of the first dean, William A. Rawles.
Althought a few commerce courses could be found in IU Bloomington's curriculum in the 19th Century, it was not until 1902 that a two-year course of study was created as an option in the Department of Economics. In 1920, the Kelley School was started as the School of Commerce and Finance.
The book chapters describe the accomplishments of each of the deans of the school: "Development and Hard Times (William A. Rawles)," "The Wells Legacy: The Foundation is Laid (Herman B Wells)," "The War and its Entrepreneurial Aftermath (Arthur M. Weimer)," "Institution Building and Academic Change (W. George Pinnell)," "Reorganization and Outreach (Schuyler F. Otteson)," "Internationalization and Innovation (Jack R. Wentworth)," "A Different Drummer (John Rau)," and "Fundraising and Technology (Dan R. Dalton)."
Waldman said he drew upon a number of sources for the book, including interviews that the late professor John Mee had conducted with faculty and alumni in the 1970s, interviews Waldman himself conducted and the annual reports that the school has prepared annually since 1930. He also has produced three videotapes on the history of the school and is currently working on a fourth one in the series that brings that video history up the present day.
The time was ripe for this historical overview, Waldman said. "This was a timely project because it represented 100 years of business education and we were putting up the Graduate and Executive Education Center, which hopefully will last 100 years.
"Besides, it's a lot of fun," he added. "I get very restless when I have time. Although I have a lot of other things going on, this provided me a good transition to my old age."
Indiana University Kelley School of Business: The First One Hundred Years of Education for Business - 1902-2002 is available at a cost of $25, plus shipping. Copies may be purchased by a check made payable to Indiana University. For assistance, contact Klemkosky at 812-855-3369 or anjenkin@indiana.edu.
