Tag: Centennial

You’re invited to celebrate Olin’s Centennial all year long on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, wherever you are on social media. Follow Olin and check out the Centennial website for fun photos from the archives, trivia, and history. We’re planning some fun contests, selfie stations, and parties that will pop up from now until graduation.

We’ve got a hundred years of amazing graduates, professors, events, and stories to share. Be a part of Olin’s Centennial, join the celebration, and make some history of your own this year. This video will help you get excited about our history and our future:

By 1919, the two-year-old School of Commerce and Finance at WashU was “exceeding expectations,” according to its dean, William Gephart. He anticipated enrollment of 50 or more students that fall and was worried about them being cramped in the classrooms available in Brookings, Ridgely and Cupples Halls. Dean Gephart wanted the business school to have its very own building, as soon as possible.

Charles H. Duncker Jr.,(second row from top, second to the left), graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1914 with Phi Beta Kappa honors (the Washington University chapter of Phi Beta Kappa was chartered in 1913, which made Duncker part of the first group of students to be so honored), was a member of the track team, editor of the yearbook, and a member of the junior and senior honorary societies.

Gephart found a generous donor for the building in the family of Charles H. Duncker Jr., who had graduated from Washington University in 1914.

Charles Jr. enlisted in the army in 1917 after working for his father’s firm, Trorlicht-Duncker Carpet Co. He was commissioned as a lieutenant before deployment to France in May 1918.

Less than six months later, Charles Duncker was killed when his unit was shelled near Thiancourt, France. His promotion to the rank of captain reached his regiment 10 days after his death.

The exact amount of the gift from Mr. and Mrs. Charles Duncker Sr. and their son’s widow, Ada Nicholson Duncker, is not known, but construction of the building to honor the young officer was projected to cost “$200,000 or more.” That would translate to approximately $2.5 million in today’s dollars.

The memorial tablet on the side of Duncker Hall facing the Brookings Quad.

The corner stone for Duncker Hall was put in place by University Corporation president Robert S. Brookings and Chancellor Frederic A. Hall in 1923 (see top photo). Duncker Hall opened for classes in 1924. The business school called Duncker Hall home until the 1960s when, once again, it needed more room for a growing faculty and student body.

See more history and share your memories on the Olin Centennial website.

All photos courtesy of Washington University Archives

One hundred years ago, the idea of a business school was not a high priority for most academic institutions. In fact, preparing students for careers in business was not considered as legitimate as earning a degree in medicine, law, engineering, or liberal arts. Trades, skills, and common business practices were something you learned as an apprentice, or literally on the job in the early 20th century.

But an economics professor named William F. Gephart believed there was good reason to legitimize the study of finance and commerce, and it became his mission to open a business school at Washington University. Gephart was a native of Ohio who attended Ohio State University before he earned his PhD at Columbia University in 1909. He joined the WashU faculty in 1913 as head of the department of economics, political science, and sociology.

When Chancellor Frederic Aldin Hall and University President Robert S. Brookings asked Gephart for curriculum recommendations in 1914, he responded with a lengthy “Report on the Schools of Commerce.” By detailing the success of existing business schools (Wharton was established in 1881, the University of Chicago in 1895, Harvard in 1908), Gephart presented four main arguments in what became his personal campaign to create a business school.

1. Research: “Business phenomena lend itself to scientific treatment and analytical study.”
2. The growing need to teach theory and principles: “The man of 60 who has been a success in business cannot be taken as a model today,” Gephart wrote. “The old method of entering a business and learning from ‘the ground up’ [was] … no longer possible or desirable,” he maintained, for “industrial and commercial life had become too complicated and specialized.”

3. Competition: “The idea of training for business … commended itself to the leading educators of the United States” and “practically every leading university … either had established or was planning to establish such a business school.”

4. Location: St. Louis was a thriving center for manufacturing and commerce. Gephart saw the local business community as a partner for training (what we call “experiential learning” today), and as future employers of business school graduates.

Gephart’s strongest selling point had to do with potential revenue. He reported to the Chancellor that, “when located in large cities, [business schools return] a surplus after the first two or three years, and in the thoroughly established schools the surplus was large.” In 1916 the University trustees granted approval for “a general scheme to establish a School of Administration … as soon as the necessary funds would be provided.”

Gephart was impatient. Armed with a $1,000 pledge and a letter of endorsement from Robert S. Brookings, he single-handedly raised the funds from 30 local businessmen and firms to open the newly named School of Commerce and Finance. Gephart served as the school’s first dean until 1921.

Visit Olin’s Centennial website for more business school history.

Tag your Olin memories on social media with: #Olin100

Photos courtesy of WashU Archives.

Our History. Our Future. Like Janus, the mythological Roman god of endings and new beginnings, we’re taking a look back and forward in celebration of Olin’s Centennial year. Check the new Olin100 website often for stories about the people who envisioned the business school and helped it grow over the past 10 decades. Share your business school memories and hopes for the future on the site. Tweet your best business souvenirs all year long with the hashtag: #Olin100.

We’ll post your photos and memories on social media and here on the blog.

Don’t be shy! Show us your best hairdo from 1962.

That plaid jacket from the ’70s.

How about a power tie from the ’80’s?

Do you still remember how to do the Prince Hallway shuffle? #Olin100

One year shy of the century mark, Olin Business School celebrates its 99th anniversary today. Founded March 30, 1917 as the School of Commerce and Finance, Washington University’s leadership recognized the need to educate entrepreneurs, future industry and finance leaders as cities and interstate commerce boomed in the early 20th century.

William F. Gephart, the first dean of the School of Commerce and Finance was a professor of economics. Determined to establish a business school at Washington University, Gephart personally solicited donations from 30 St. Louis businesses to help found the school. Visit the timeline on the first floor of Knight Hall, or click here to see the school’s history on the Building Olin website.

Main image: Robert S. Brookings helps lay the corner stone for Duncker Hall, 1923. WashU Archives.

Top: first graduating class of the School of Commerce and Finance; lower left, William Gephardt; lower right, Duncker Hall, the first building built expressly for the business school in 1923.