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4 UConn School of Business After officially retiring in 2002, he spent the next 13 years in the classroom. Retired is the wrong descriptor for a man who continued to teach a thousand students a year. Many of his students are now accountants because of his inspirational teaching. More of them took to heart his lessons on how to make the most of each day, how to maximize their learning during college and how to be the best human being they could become. All of higher education was challenged by the events of the Vietnam war, and UConn was no exception. Some peo- ple fled the draft and protested the war, while others signed up and went to Vietnam. In that era, our veterans returned to a different world than those who fought in WWII or than those who are returning today. But always our veterans have brought maturity and a focused purpose to our campus. is has served them well and advantaged their classmates. For many decades, alumni recall UConn as almost a com- muter school. Certainly on weekends the Storrs campus emptied. ere was no food service on weekends, nor any other reason to stay. But that has changed. And UConn is not just centered in Storrs, anymore. e School of Business has major academic centers in Stamford, Hartford and Wa- terbury. For many students these were a starting point en route to a transfer to the Storrs campus to earn the ultimate degree. But for decades some students have earned their de- gree entirely at a regional campus, and this trend is acceler- ating today. In recent years, we have launched new majors on the regional campuses. In Stamford, UConn is committed to creating a residential program. In Hartford, UConn is in the midst of creating a major urban campus complex that will bring all of our undergraduate and graduate programs together in one dynamic, centrally located place. As UConn President Susan Herbst says, athletics are the front porch of UConn. People come for the excitement and stay for the education. During my career, I spent 25 years at Cornell, 10 years at Baruch College in Manhattan and now four years at UConn. When I arrived at UConn I worried that athletics would rule the roost. Happily, I have found them to be an excellent partner. Indeed many student-ath- letes select the rigor of the School of Business knowing they will have a robust degree when their athletic careers are complete. In 1995, Coach Geno Auriemma and the UConn Women's Basketball Team had their first of many great, undefeated seasons and NCAA championships, shining a brighter light on UConn. e story, as told to me, has those athletic accomplishments as pivotal moments in the creation of the UConn 2000 commitment by the state. us began a pattern of support for the University that includ- ed Bioscience Connecticut, and most recently Next Gen- eration Connecticut. A huge investment in our future has brightened that potential decade by decade. Our alumni from 40 years ago come back in a state of amazement. ey marvel at the bustling campus, weekends filled with activ- ity and learning and a physical plant that has been trans- formed. Learning facilities, dormitories, air conditioning; it is all new, and all good. e School of Business has been a beneficiary of the com- mitment to excellence. In the 1990s, our faculty embraced an enhanced academic vision. In a close vote, the faculty launched a Ph.D. program and committed to support the scholars that it would attract. e fruit of that decision is visible today in young scholars studying for the Ph.D., in strong faculty attracted by the existence of the program and accomplished graduates finding great careers in prominent universities around the world. In 2001, the new School of Business building opened across from Gampel Pavilion. e learning environment is state-of-the-art, and we continue to ensure that our capabil- ity keeps pace with rapid enhancements of technology. New graduate degree programs have included an online Master of Science in Accounting, which this year was named No. 2 in the nation by U.S. News and World Report among online masters programs in business. We have relied on our alumni and corporate friends in the design and launch of new mas- ter's degrees in business analytics and project management and in financial risk management. Both were great ideas at the right time, and have far surpassed our expectations. Most recently we revamped a master's in human resources, which is thriving. In 1993, the School of Business Hall of Fame launched, and in the ensuing decades, more than 100 individuals have been inducted. Not surprisingly, Gordon Tasker '47 was in the first group of inductees, along with omas Wolff '56, Harry Gampel '43, Edward Heberger '58, Bob Cizik '53 and several others. e Hall of Fame membership is a re- minder of the leadership that our alumni continue to pro- vide for the School and for UConn. It has been my privilege to come to know many of them, too many to name here. But I will call out a few other names that you will recognize because they grace buildings, conference rooms, classrooms and chairs at the University and in the School: Barton, Es- tes, Fox, Freitas, Friar, Gang, Gladstein, Lodewick, Mc- Carthy, Nayden, Shenkman, Toscano and Treibick. And the support was not always from individuals. Strong corpo- rate support has come from Aetna, Andersen Tax, Cigna, Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC, Deloitte, GE Capi- tal, GE, ING (now Voya), KPMG, Northeast Utilities (now Eversource), PwC, SS&C Technologies Inc., e Travelers, UTC, Xerox, and many more. is welcome merely outlines and sets the stage for a cel- ebration of 75 years of history. We welcome the opportunity to share these moments and highlights. ank you for sup- porting UConn's School of Business. n John A. Elliott Dean