The Gupta Years: Growth and expansion
For more than a quarter century, Mahendra Gupta has served Washington University and Olin Business School in many roles including faculty member, researcher, administrator, mentor, and, most recently, dean.
For more than a quarter century, Mahendra Gupta has served Washington University and Olin Business School in many roles including faculty member, researcher, administrator, mentor, and, most recently, dean.
During Stuart Greenbaum's decade as dean, Olin Business School transformed from a regional provider of management programs to an internationally recognized leader in management education.
The tenure of Dean Emeritus Bob Virgil, who was referred to as the pied piper of the business school "for his ability to rally friends and colleagues and students together," was marked by the construction of Simon Hall, the naming of the school for John M. Olin, and an endowment surge, among many other accomplishments.
Karl A. Hill became the dean of Washington University’s business school in a year best remembered for sit-ins, Vietnam War protests, hippies, and the election of Richard Nixon.
Robert Brookings' early successes in business set in motion a series of events that had lasting effects for St. Louis, Washington University, and ultimately, the Olin Business School.
John E. Simon was a St. Louis investor, philanthropist, and General Partner of what is believed to have been the third oldest New York Stock Exchange member firm and the oldest continuous member firm west of the Mississippi River.
John M. Olin was a leader among this nation’s entrepreneurs, scientists, conservationists, and philanthropists. His life, his work, his compassion, and his generosity touched the lives of thousands.
The 1950s saw the succession of three deans with ties to Tulane University—deans who turned the business school away from dwindling opportunities in public service to growing possibilities in the private sector. It was also the decade in which the School formed new ties with the greater St. Louis business community and launched its first graduate program.
Following a period of significant change during Dean Isador Loeb's long tenure, the 1940s were dominated by World War II and its aftermath as GIs returned home and life was supposed to return to ‘normal’.
In 1918, when Margaret Haase entered the Business School, the United States was just beginning its career as a world power, women could not vote, and Prohibition was just around the corner. In 1920, she became the business school's first female graduate.
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