ANN ARBOR—The University of Michigan Business School, pending approval by the U-M Board of Regents, will establish a new endowed professorship to honor former Business School dean Gilbert R. Whitaker Jr. and his wife Ruth.

“During his eleven years (1979-1990) as the School’s dean, Gil transformed the Business School in many important ways,” says B. Joseph White, the current dean. “He expanded the faculty and improved their quality, and attracted a more diverse and highly talented student body. He also doubled the size of the School’s campus, adding facilities for a library, computing services center, and executive education classrooms and residence.”

As U-M provost (1990-1995), Whitaker oversaw the rebuilding of the University’s Central Campus and the adoption of a new financial management structure that demands more accountability from its administrative units, schools and colleges.

“In all of these roles and endeavors, Ruth Whitaker was a strong and effective partner,” White says. “The creation of the Gilbert and Ruth Whitaker Professorship at the Business School, the result of great generosity on the part of friends, colleagues and Business School alumni, is a fitting tribute to the Whitakers and their many accomplishments.”

During his career, Whitaker has served as president of the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business and as an adviser to the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. He also has taught at Texas Christian University, Washington University in St. Louis and Northwestern University, and is currently dean of the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University.

He received his master’s degree and doctorate in economics from the University of Wisconsin and a bachelor’s degree from Rice.

Business SchoolB. Joseph WhiteprovostAmerican Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business