STEPHEN H. ARCHER
Emeritus Professor and Founding Dean

When Stephen Archer arrived at Willamette University in 1973 to serve as the first Dean of the Graduate School of Administration, there were no students and no faculty. Archer and his secretary officed in the basement of the women’s dorm. From there he built an administration program where students of business, government and not-for-profit could study in the same school. “I felt the key to a successful program was to hire public administration faculty who were as rigorously trained as business faculty” said Archer.

He started with a budget for five faculty in the fi rst year of the two-year program and helped create the joint degree program with the law school. And today? “Our MBA program is accredited through both the business and public administration agencies. While providing a top quality education to our business students we also prepare our not-for-profit and public administration students unlike any other program,” Archer said. Sounds like a dream come true.