10 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 19, 2001
FRIDAY Focus
Former
B-School
dean
to
step
"
in
Colleagues label
B. Joseph Wite
as a born leader
By Rachel Green
Daily Staff Reporter
News of today's expected appointment of former Busi-
ness School Dean B. Joseph White as interim University
president was met with overwhelming approval from
alumni and his colleagues.
"Joe is a natural as a university president," Business
Prof. Eugene Anderson said. "He has been a tremendous
leader and an extremely articulate spokesperson and he's
really, I think, quite gifted in his ability to inspire people.
01
"Joe is a natural as a
university president.
He has been a
tremendous leader"
- Eugene Anderson
Business School Professor
He has a great
love for the
University and
for its people."
White, who
currently
serves as a
professor, led
the School of
Business
Administra-
tion from 1991
AP PHOTO
Former Business School Dean B. Joseph White looks on in May as former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright speaks at the Business School. White, who is expected to become the
University's interim president, helped bring Albright to Ann Arbor as a distinguished scholar in the William Davidson Institute.
The University's
interim president:
Interim president may
be a candidate for post
B.
Joseph
White
to 2001 and helped make it one of the premier business
schools in the country, said Anderson, who arrived at the
University in 1989 just as White was becoming interim
dean.
Anderson said White had a talent for connecting with
everyone affiliated with the Business School.
"He wasn't just the faculty's dean, he was everybody's
dean," he said. "He cared for the faculty, the students and
the alumni, and I'm sure he will bring a lot of that to the
presidential post."
Business Prof. Russell Lundholm said he heard about
White's expected appointment yesterday afternoon and
praised the former dean for his social skills, saying White
represents the values of the University well.
"He's a very polished speaker and he's good with alum-
ni and donors. He's a great host," Lundholm said. "He
represented the Business School well and I'm confident
he will do the same for the University."
Born in Detroit in 1947, White received a bachelor's
degree from Georgetown University in 1969, a master's in
business administration from Harvard University in 1971
and a doctoral degree from the Michigan Business School
in 1975. He became an associate professor of organiza-
tional behavior and industrial relations at Michigan in
1975 and joined the faculty of the University's Survey
Research Center in 1980, before working for several tech-
nology companies in the United States and abroad.
He returned to Michigan as associate dean of the Busi-
ness School in 1987.
In his 10 years as dean, annual expenditures on scholar-
ships for Business students doubled, the annual operating
budget increased from less than $50 million to more than
$100 million and the school's endowment rose from $40
million to $150 million.
He served as president of the William Davidson Insti-
tute, a leading center of expertise on business and in
developing market economies which was created during
his tenure as dean. He was instrumental in bringing for-
mer U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to the
institute as a distinguished scholar beginning this semes-
ter.
White is a member of the Board of Directors of
Georgetown University and the national board of the Uni-
versity of Michigan's Center for Community Service
Learning.
He has published three books and several articles on
human recourses in business journals.
Business Prof. Michael Metzger, who joined the Uni-
versity last year, said although he never worked directly
with White, the positive affects of the former dean's pres-
ence are still being felt in the school.
"He's had a long tenure at the Business School and he
was very instrumental in leading it to its current
respectable status.
University alum Mike Wallace, an anchor on CBS' "60
Minutes," said yesterday that he too was pleased with the
regents' selection of White.
"I think he's a first-rate man," Wallace said.
0
Age: 54; born in Detroit
Family: Wife, Mary Decker White;
son, Brian and daughter, Audrey
Education:
B.S. from Georgetown University
School of Foreign Service, 1969
MBA from Harvard School of
Business, 1971
Ph.D. from University of Michigan
Business School, 1975
Employment:
1975-1980: University of Michigan
Business School associate professor
1981-1987: Vice president at
Cummins Engine Company Inc.
By Nick Bunkley
Daily News Editor
The last time B. Joseph White
served in an interim capacity, he
later received the job on a perma-
nent basis.
That was in 1991, when he was
appointed as dean of the Universi-
ty's School of Business Administra-
tion.
Today, a decade later and only a
few months after stepping down as
dean of the B-School, White is
again about to take a job on a tem-
porary basis. And again he is con-
sidered a possible candidate to
officially take over the post when
the search process ends.
It will be months before the Uni-
versity announces whether White
will become the permanent succes-
sor to outgoing President Lee
Bollinger, who will become the
chief executive at New York City's
Columbia University in July.
And since the upcoming presi-
dential search process is likely to
be conducted in private until a deci-
sion is imminent, it might be nearly
as long until it becomes clear
whether White emerges a finalist
for the position.
White himself has admitted that
it's much more difficult for an
interim president to be appointed
permanently than it is for an acting
dean.
Shortly before the Board of
Regents named physics Prof.
Homer Neal to temporarily step in
after President James Duderstadt
resigned, White told The Michigan
Daily that an interim administrator
must avoid looking too far into the
future.
Now, he will need to take his own
advice to heart as he prepares to
lead the University through.the
transition after Bollinger leaves.
"(An interim's) job is to do the
everyday blocking and tackling
extremely well," White said in
November 1995. "It's a job that is
extremely focused in day-to-day
matters.
White was one of 302 candidates
initially identified by the 1996
search committee that eventually
selected Bollinger but was not
included as a finalist that year.
When White announced he would
step down after a decade as dean of
the Business School, faculty mem-
bers, regents and Bollinger all
expressed surprise and sadness at
his departure.
White never completely closed
the door, however, on the chance
that he would return to take on a
higher position in the administra-
tion, and it appears Bollinger's
departure is giving him the oppor-
tunity for him to do just that.
"I think that it's possible I will
finish my career as a faculty mem-
ber here at Michigan," White told
the Daily in March 2000, "or else
some other sort of leadership job
might come along and it might
attract me."
Students laud former
dean as 'visionary'
.'
9
1987-1990: Business
associate dean
School
By Margaret Engoren
Daily Staff Reporter
1990-1991: Business School
interim dean
1991-2001: Business School dean
1992-2001: President of Business
School's William Davidson Institute
Present: Wilbur K. Pierpont
Collegiate Professor
Current board memberships:
Georgetown University (since 1999)
Gordon Food Services (since 1988)
Kvrudnn Cnrnnratin ckinrp i1 qq)'
Many University Business students praised
the accomplishments and leadership of for-
mer Dean B. Joseph White yesterday, sup-
porting the Board of Regents' decision to
appoint him as the University's interim presi-
dent.
"White is a dynamic leader, a visionary
thinker and a passionate teacher," said Eliza-
beth Fastiggi, a Business second-year gradu-
ate student.
"He is very in tune with the student body,"
she said.
"White is the reason the B school is as
respected as it is. As dean, he improved our
school and polished its public image."
Business second-year graduate student
Chandus Jackson said White will likely
improve the University during his tenure.
"Looking at the improvements White made
"White as the interim
president is exactly the
thing this University
needs."
- Elizabeth Fastiggi
Second-year Business School graduate student
sity administration.
"White as the interim president is absolute-
ly the thing the University needs. He is a
remarkable leader; he is innovative, compas-
sionate and has a real sense of where the B-
School is headed," Fastiggi said.
Richards thinks White's impact may affect
more than just the students and faculty mem-
bers on campus.
't' 1
.&.I