The University Record, April 22, 1997
Whitaker to head Rice’s business school
Gilbert R. Whitaker Jr., professor of business administration and former provost and executive vice president, has been named dean of Rice University’s Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Administration, effective July 1.
“This is probably the most outstanding appointment of a business school dean in the country this year,” said Rice President Malcolm Gillis. “We are extremely pleased to have such a distinguished alumnus as Gilbert Whitaker come home to Rice to lead the Jones School.”
“When we appointed a group of stakeholders of the Jones School last year to develop a plan for the future of the School, we knew it would take a special person to fulfill the goals outlined in the plan,” said Rice Provost David Auston. “Gil Whitaker is exactly the right person for the task at hand.”
“With Gil Whitaker’s departure, the University loses one of its most talented and dedicated faculty members,” noted President Lee C. Bollinger. “I had the pleasure of working with Gil in his roles as dean and provost. As dean, he brought national prominence to the Michigan Business School. Among his accomplishments were the transformation of the curriculum, recruitment of outstanding faculty and students, increasing minority enrollment, and an expansion of the School’s facilities.
“Gil’s strong commitment to strengthening the academic programs of the University was evident during his tenure as provost,” Bollinger said, “even as he led the University into a more rigorous budget planning process.”
“Ruth Whitaker has contributed her own time and talent to an array of important projects, both within the University and in the community,” he added. “All of us at the University wish both Ruth and Gil well in this next stage of their lives.”
Whitaker said that even though he had not been seeking the position, “the request from President Malcolm Gillis `to come home to Rice’ was impossible to decline. I have enjoyed my return to the faculty of the Business School, but this chance to use my administrative experiences in a constructive way at Rice felt right. Ruth and I expect to maintain our ties to Michigan and Ann Arbor in many ways. Michigan will always have a special place in our hearts.”
