Alumnus Robert Frick and his wife, Barbara, have established a professorship in the Olin School of Business.
Their gift of $1.2 million, which has been augmented with $300,000 from the University’s Sesquicentennial Endowed Professorship Challenge, created the Robert and Barbara Frick Professorship in Business. Todd R. Zenger, Ph.D., was installed as the first holder Feb. 10 in the Charles F. Knight Executive Education Center.
“Washington University and the Olin School benefit tremendously from this very generous gift of Barbara and Robert Frick,” Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton said. “We are very grateful and honored for their trust and support of our academic mission.”
Stuart I. Greenbaum, Ph.D., Olin School dean and the Bank of America Professor of Managerial Leadership, said: “This professorship is extremely important to ensure that high-quality teaching and scholarship continue for generations to come in the Olin School. I am pleased that Todd R. Zenger is the inaugural holder, to recognize his outstanding contributions to the academic enterprise.”
Zenger joined the Olin School faculty in 1990 as assistant professor of organization and strategy. He was promoted to associate professor in 1995 and professor in 1998.
He has served as senior associate dean for academic affairs and as a resident fellow in the Olin School’s Center for Business, Law and Economics.
Zenger directs the executive master of business administration (E.M.B.A.) program, and in 1995 he received the E.M.B.A. Teacher of the Year Award.
He teaches a range of courses from undergraduate to doctoral, covering subjects including corporate strategy, organizational economics, organization design and management.
Among his research interests are economic theories of firms, compensation, organizational design, business strategy and managing technology.
Zenger is widely published in journals. In addition, he is associate editor for Management Science and serves on the editorial boards of Academy of Management Review, Organization Science and Strategic Organization.
He earned a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and a doctorate from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Robert W. Frick, a native St. Louisan, earned an undergraduate degree in 1960 from the School of Engineering & Applied Science in civil engineering and a master of business administration degree in 1962 from the Olin School.
A veteran of the banking industry, Frick joined Bank of America in 1963 and worked in corporate finance until 1974, when he joined Measurex Corp. as a director and vice president of finance.
He rejoined Bank of America a few years later and rose through the ranks. While with the bank, he was located in San Francisco, Tokyo and London. He served in a number of positions, including president of the bank’s venture capital subsidiaries and chief financial officer.
Frick retired in 1988 as vice chairman of its board of directors and head of its world banking group.
He then joined his wife in growing her successful real-estate business, K.E.S. Management, in the San Francisco area, where they live.
In addition to his work in real estate, Frick teaches business strategy in the E.M.B.A. program at St. Mary’s College of California, and serves on the boards of seven companies headquartered on the West Coast.
Frick’s ties with the Olin School are strong, and he is a dedicated volunteer for his alma mater.
Since 1987, he has chaired the San Francisco Eliot Society Committee, and he has also served on a number of committees, including the San Francisco Regional Cabinet and the Regional Campaign Committee.
He serves on the Olin School’s national council. He received the school’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1988.
Barbara Frick is a graduate of the University of Kansas, where she earned a bachelor’s degree, and of San Jose State University, where she earned a master’s degree.