Greeting from Dean Walker

• One was being in Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City the evening of November 24 when MU’s football Tigers beat the KU Jayhawks 36-28 to claim the crown in the Big 12’s northern division! What a night. . .
  
  
• Believe it or not, I had an even better experience 36 days earlier. On October 19, the Bush Auditorium in Cornell Hall was standing-room-only with more than 500 of the college’s students, faculty and staff members, and alumni, as well as other members of the MU community in attendance.
  
  They had responded to an invitation that read: “Will you be here when history is made?” And it was indeed an historical and unique event at which we announced that Geraldine Trulaske had again stepped forward to support the college in a most generous way and, in turn, MU’s business school would be forever known as the Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business, in honor of her late husband Bob. More about Mr. Trulaske and the gift. Although we cannot disclose the amounts of the late Mrs. Trulaske’s recent and future gifts, I can say that her financial support, combined with the measure of flexibility given us with regards to applying the new funds, is beneficial to MU’s business school at an unprecedented level. What a day. . .

Our college has been incredibly fortunate to have received enormous amounts of private gifts. Believe me, we put them to good use in supporting students and faculty members and, ultimately, in fulfilling our educational mission. Fortunately, there are many named components in the Robert J. Trulaske, Sr., College of Business. Consider several examples:

• The Crosby MBA Program;
• The Vasey Academy, Cornell Leadership Program, and Flegel-Source Interlink Academy for Aspiring Entrepreneurs; and
• An array of named faculty positions and many named scholarships.

Of course, opportunities to support our college remain. We would welcome the opportunity to talk with you about naming the School of Accountancy, our other academic units, or our undergraduate business program; enhancing or expanding existing programs for students or creating new ones; or endowing new scholarships.

This past year, 2007, was momentous for our college. It will be tough to top in 2008, but we are already off to a great start. In this issue of Mizzou Business Online, you can read about new appointments to named faculty positions, the prestigious list of global business leaders who will visit our campus as part of our Speakers Series, and where professors ranked our School of Accountancy on a national basis.

Later this year, we will also celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Herbert J. Davenport Society, which now has more than 400 members who have contributed over $100 million to the college. Last year’s event attracted 300 people (see photos). Of course, we have high hopes about a great 20th anniversary celebration, with UM’s new president, Gary Forsee, as the featured speaker.

We look back with pride, but we look ahead filled with energy and excitement knowing that we are guided by a plan. As we continue to work on achieving the priorities in our strategic plan, I thank our alumni and friends for your interest in and support of the Trulaske College of Business.

Sincerely,

Bruce J. Walker
Lansford Professor of Leadership and Dean