Stuart I. Greenbaum, Ph.D., dean of the John M. Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis, has announced his intention to step down as dean effective June 30, 2005, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton.
Greenbaum has served as dean since 1995 and was named the Bank of America Professor in July 2000.
“Dean Greenbaum has led the John M. Olin School of Business with distinction, and significant success has been realized in all aspects of the academic enterprise during his tenure as dean,” Wrighton said. “The faculty of the school is larger and stronger, and the student body is stronger academically.
“He has been an effective University leader and has helped shape University policy, and he has contributed significantly to the overall advance in visibility and quality of the University,” Wrighton continued.
After a sabbatical, Greenbaum plans to resume a full-time position as Bank of America Professor in the Olin School. The process of identifying his successor will begin immediately, with an aim of having a new dean in place July 1, 2005, Wrighton said.
“The privilege to serve Washington University as dean of the John M. Olin School of Business has been the highlight of my academic career,” Greenbaum said. “I’ve been privileged to work with some of the best people on earth for a cause I believe in with every fiber of my being.”
As dean, Greenbaum has made executive education and lifelong learning a priority. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Charles F. Knight Executive Education Center, which was dedicated in October 2001.
“The development of the Knight Center has been a stunning achievement, and has resulted in a major advance in executive education,” Wrighton said.
The $50 million, 135,000-square-foot, five-story facility with state-of-the-art technology is the crown jewel of the Olin School. The Knight Center houses the school’s Weston Career Resources Center and the Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) Program, as well as the ExecEdge Corporate Education program, which offers customized non-degree executive development programs for corporations.
In April 2002, the Olin School began offering an EMBA degree in Shanghai, China, through a highly successful partnership with Fudan University.
In graduate and undergraduate programs, Greenbaum made major curricular advances that sparked the development of more than 40 new courses of study and allowed students to customize their programs.
Experiential learning has come to the fore at the Olin School with hands-on courses in entrepreneurship, global management and investments, and courses featuring consulting with public schools, private companies and nonprofit organizations. In addition, strategic alliances have advanced international study and exchanges with universities and programs worldwide.
Under Greenbaum’s leadership, the Olin School established The Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies (SCES) through the generous support of Robert and Julie Skandalaris. SCES gives students the opportunity to learn in real-world business settings as well as in the classroom.
Greenbaum’s focus on experiential learning led to the creation of The Hatchery, a program that leads student entrepreneurs through the process of creating a viable business plan, and an expansion of the annual Olin Cup Competition, which matches students with alumni and others in the community to compete for thousands of dollars in investment money to found innovative companies.
During the Campaign for Washington University, Greenbaum was effective in building the resource base of the school. The school’s original goal of $105 million was exceeded with commitments of more than $142 million, including resources to more than double the number of endowed professorial chairs from 12 to 26.
Before joining the Olin School as dean, Greenbaum spent 20 years at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, where he was director of the Banking Research Center and the Norman Strunk Distinguished Professor of Financial Institutions. From 1988-1992, he served as Kellogg’s associate dean for academic affairs.
He has served on 15 corporate boards, including Noble International, Reinsurance Group of America and First Oak Brook Bancshares. He also serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council of the Graduate Management Admission Council, the board of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (the primary accrediting agency for business schools), the Executive Committee of the World Agricultural Forum, and the board of St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
He was appointed three times to the Federal Savings and Loan Advisory Council, and was twice officially commended for extraordinary public service. He has consulted for the American Bankers Association, the Bank Administration Institute and the Federal Home Loan Bank System.
Greenbaum has published two books and more than 75 articles in academic journals and other professional media. He is founding editor of the Journal of Financial Intermediation and has served on the editorial boards of 10 other academic journals.
Greenbaum earned a doctorate in economics from The Johns Hopkins University in 1964 and a bachelor’s degree in economics from New York University in 1959.