Release Date: Friday, June 16, 2000

NEW ASSOCIATE DEAN RICHARD DANIELS TO LEAD EXPANSION OF EXECUTIVE PROGRAMS AT UGA'S TERRY COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

ATHENS, Ga. — Richard L. Daniels is the new associate dean for executive programs in the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business. Daniels joined the college in late May from Georgia Tech's DuPree College of Management.

With Daniels' appointment to the newly created position, the Terry College also announced a name change for the college's Corporate Education Office, which will now be called the Office of Executive Programs.

Daniels, who also was made a full professor in the Management Department, is the third associate dean brought in by Terry College Dean P. George Benson. Daniels joins Sandra Gustavson, who this summer will succeed Jim Trieschmann as associate dean for faculty and research, and Bob Gatewood, who was named associate dean for academic programs two years ago.

"With Rich Daniels' hiring, we look forward to developing and delivering executive education programs across the state and around the world. We plan to become a major player in the lifelong learning business," Benson said. "And this more sophisticated administrative structure supports our strategic objective to better integrate the Terry College with the business community in Georgia and beyond. That objective can no longer be accomplished by doing business only in Athens.

"Rich's experience with Georgia Tech's executive programs and his understanding of Atlanta's business community will be valuable assets to our existing and emerging executive programs," Benson said. "He's also a top-notch scholar in operations management."

For the past five years, Daniels was involved in the development and management of the executive master's degree program in the management of technology at Georgia Tech. Daniels said the MS-MOT program mainly attracts students with science and engineering backgrounds, typically with 5-15 years work experience. He most recently served as program director, overseeing all facets of the master's program. Prior to that, he was the program's faculty director from 1995 to 1997. He also teaches executive courses in operations management, project management, service operations and quantitative methods, and was promoted to full professor of operations management at Georgia Tech last year.

"Everything that I've heard from the faculty indicates that my confidence in the potential for executive programs at the Terry College is well-placed," Daniels said. "As a Tech faculty member, my greatest fear was that the University of Georgia would get into executive education in a big way. With its alumni base to work from, UGA is the 800-lb. gorilla in this state.

"I think continuing education is something business schools have a responsibility to do as a service for the business community. The higher tuition charged for executive programs is a great source of revenue for schools, but also raises customers' expectations as to what they get out of the program."

From 1986 to 1993, Daniels was a member of the operations management faculty at Duke University. He has published more than 20 articles, including papers in Operations Research and Management Science. Daniels received his Ph.D. from UCLA in 1986.

Daniels said his focus in this first year will be primarily on launching an executive MBA program and several non-degree programs in 2001, with an eye toward using the new UGA Alumni Club in Atlanta as a key site for continuing education classes. Daniels will work part of the time from an office at the Alumni Club, in addition to his Athens office in Brooks Hall.

For many years, the Corporate Education Office has sponsored industry conferences and educational programs around the state with assistance from Terry College faculty. Among the programs are the annual Georgia Economic Outlook luncheon series - which toured nine cities from December to February - and professional conferences such as the Bonbright Center Energy Conference and the Trucking Profitability Strategies Conference.

Daniels said the name change to Office of Executive Programs reflects the Terry College's intent to broaden its offerings in continuing education to include executive and part-time degree programs, non-degree short courses and faculty-led seminars.

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