Trulaske College of Business - History

History

The College of Business was established as a senior professional school on January 19, 1914 as the School of Commerce. The first faculty was appointed on February 18, 1914 with professor Herbert J. Davenport as the first Dean. The College of Business's prestigious donor organization was named The Herbert J. Davenport Society to pay tribute to the first dean. The name of the school was changed to the School of Commerce and Public Administration on May 31, 1916, and later that year, Dean Davenport resigned to accept a professorship in economics at Cornell University. The name of the school was changed again on January 23, 1917 to the School of Business and Public Administration.

During the early stages of the college, there was some controversy regarding the nature of the courses that would be offered. Some university faculty favored practical vocational courses, and others favored general, cultural, or theoretical courses. Dean Davenport and Thorstein Veblen, both professors of economics, eventual won out in their belief that all courses should have a theoretical purpose over and above their practical value; however, all courses offered were to also maintain a degree of practical value.

The College's business programs were among the first in the nation to be accredited. The American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) was established in 1916, and in 1926 the MU College of Business became the first public business school in Missouri to earn accreditation from AACSB. Only 14 institutions nationwide had been granted membership in AACSB prior to MU. The college was also a leader in offering the PhD degree in business-related fields.

The College of Business has made its home in several buildings throughout its history. The original Commerce Building was the north part of Swallow Hall on Francis Quadrangle. On January 29, 1927, the school moved to the former quarters of the law school, which was renamed the Business and Public Administration Building. This location is now part of the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute. Middlebush Hall was constructed in 1959 as the new home for the college, and it was named for Frederick A. Middlebush, who had served as Dean of the School of Business and Public Administration and President of the University.

By 1990, enrollment at the college had significantly outgrown the more than 30-year-old Middlebush Hall, and classes had to be held in several other buildings. MU began to draft plans for the a new business building in 1994, and on September 18, 1999, the university broke ground on a new home for the College of Business, and it would be twice the size of Middlebush when completed. The 150,000-square-foot (14,000 m2) Cornell Hall was completed in 2002 at a cost of nearly $30 million. The state-of-the-art facility is named for Harry M. Cornell, Jr., who is chairman emeritus of Leggett & Platt. Cornell is 1950 graduate of the college, and he and his wife have donated approximately $7 million to the college.

On October 19, 2007, the University of Missouri announced that its College of Business is now officially named the Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business. The change comes following a series of large gifts from Geraldine Trulaske, in honor of her late husband, Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. The College of Business is one of only two named academic divisions at the University of Missouri-Columbia. The other named division is the Sinclair School of Nursing.

In 2010, Joan Gabel, former Florida State University Department of Risk Management/Insurance chairwoman, became the new dean for the College of Business. Gabel replaced Bruce Walker, who served as MU's College of Business dean for 19 years.