Marriott School of Management - History

History

In 1891, Brigham Young Academy, the predecessor to BYU, formed the Commercial College, which offered coursework in business education. A decade later (1901), the college began offering its first four-year degree program. After Brigham Young Academy was separated into Brigham Young High School and Brigham Young University in 1903, the college was renamed the College of Commerce and Business Administration as part of the university. The next decade was tough for the college, as "BYU struggled through the World War I, a flu epidemic closed the school during the fall term of 1918, and school indebtedness that resulted in the 1918 LDS purchase of both BYU's assets and debts." Starting in 1921, the college was housed in the Maeser Building, where it would remain for 13 years.

The Wall Street Crash of 1929 significantly depleted LDS Church funds, which caused the church to consider closing BYU. However, "the transference of a number of church junior colleges allowed BYU to remain in operation." By 1935 the church regained its financial footing and provided more aid to BYU, the school growing slowly over the next ten years. The business college subsequently began offering master's degrees in 1939; however, the programs were hit hard beginning in 1941 when its enrollment (particularly that of men) dropped due to U.S. involvement in World War II. But later that decade, U.S. military veterans returned to school, and in 1945 enrollment doubled. William F. Edwards oversaw the college's growth over the next several years until 1957, when the school was re-branded as the College of Business and Weldon J. Taylor was appointed as its first dean. A year later (1958) the business school held its first management conference, and in 1960 the school was moved to the newly completed Jesse Knight Building.

A Master of Business Administration (MBA) program was added in 1961, and the school formed its National Advisory Council in 1966. In 1973, the school bestowed its first International Executive of the Year Award to AT&T President Robert D. Lilley. Bruce B. Orton served as interim dean of the school for a year until 1975, when Merrill J. Bateman was recruited from a management position at candy-maker Mars, Inc. for the job as dean. That same year, the school was separated into the School of Management for undergraduate studies and the Graduate School of Management, which grouped together the MBA, MPA, MOB, and MAcc programs. A year later (1976), the business school created a School of Accountancy within its jurisdiction and printed its first issue of Exchange magazine (now Marriott Alumni Magazine). In 1977, the BYU Management Society was organized.

In 1979, William G. Dyer became dean of the school. Dyer oversaw the construction of the N. Eldon Tanner Building, which was dedicated in 1982. In 1983, an Executive MBA program was added, and in 1984 Paul H. Thompson was appointed dean of the school. Two years later (1986), the International Student Sponsor Program was started, which continues to provide financial assistance to married LDS international students to this day. In 1988, the name of the school was changed to Marriott School of Management in honor of its benefactors—Marriott International founders J. Willard and Alice Marriott—following their $15 million donation to the school. That same year, the Army and Air Force ROTC programs became a part of the Marriott School.

In 1989, K. Fred Skousen became dean of the school. In that year, the school's endowment exceeded $10 million, and the school was awarded a Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) grant by the U.S. Department of Education. In 1993, the Organizational Leadership and Strategy Department was created, and a year later the school instituted a limited-enrollment policy. Also in 1994, the school began offering a minor in management. By 1998, the school's endowment had reached $40 million and the Institute of Public Management was renamed in honor of George W. Romney, who during his lifetime served as Chairman of American Motors Corporation, Governor of Michigan, and U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. That same year, Ned C. Hill was named dean of the Marriott School.

The school's Center for Economic Self-Reliance (CESR) was formed in 2003, and the Information Systems Department was created in 2005. That same year the CESR also participated in the production of the microcredit documentary Small Fortunes, which aired nationwide on October 27, 2005, on PBS. In 2006 the school's worldwide initiatives were organized under the Kay and Yvonne Whitmore Global Management Center, named for former Kodak CEO Kay Whitmore and his wife.

In 2006, members of the school's faculty were involved in controversy surrounding the U.S. Republican Party presidential primaries. On October 9, Dean Hill and Associate Dean W. Steve Albrecht sent an e-mail to 50 BYU Management Society members and 100 members of the school's National Advisory Council asking them to support Mitt Romney's bid for the U.S. presidency. Hill and Albrecht signed the message with their official BYU titles, sent the e-mail from a BYU e-mail address, and began the message "Dear Marriott School Friend." Both the LDS Church and BYU, as tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations, are prohibited by federal law from endorsing a particular candidate or political party. Albrecht said that he should not have sent it in his capacity as a BYU dean: "It wasn't something BYU did, it wasn't something I probably should have done, and it was bad judgment."

By 2007, the school's endowment reached $130 million, and in 2008, the Tanner Building Addition was dedicated. For 2011, the endowment reached $137.6 million. Also during this year, the Finance Department was formed in an effort to strengthen curriculum and placement; the Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology was created in honor of former Dell CEO Kevin Rollins and his wife Debra; and administrators announced the addition of a Recreation Management and Youth Leadership (RMYL) Department to the school. The latter department was formerly under BYU's College of Health and Human Performance and comrpises the academic disciplines of leisure services management, therapeutic recreation, Scouting administration, non-profit management, and youth leadership.