September 19, 2003
Harvard professor named to Condit chair in business administration at UW
Richard L. Nolan, professor emeritus of The Harvard Business School, will be named on Monday the inaugural Philip M. Condit Endowed Chair in Business Administration at the University of Washington Business School.
The professorship was established in 2001 with gifts totaling $1 million from The Boeing Co., dedicated to elevating the school’s curriculum, enhancing the student experience and attracting and retaining outstanding faculty. The chair honors the distinguished career of the Boeing chairman and chief executive officer and the company’s numerous contributions to higher education during its 87-year history in Washington state.
“I am delighted by the appointment of Professor Nolan to this Endowed Chair in Business Administration at the University of Washington,” said Condit. “Dr. Nolan is absolutely the right person for this position. He is a leader and a visionary and at the forefront of academic thought on changes in business as the information revolution transforms us into an interdependent, global society.”
Nolan, an expert in information technology management, has conducted research and taught courses focusing on creatively destroying industrial economy management values and evolving a set of workable management principles for the information economy. His bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in business administration are from the University of Washington, and he holds an honorary master’s degree from Harvard University.
“Boeing has been a true supporter of the University of Washington for decades, and this endowment is yet another example,” UW Business School Dean Yash Gupta said. “We’re especially pleased to have this gift honor a man who has grown the world’s largest aerospace company. We recognize Richard Nolan as a similarly visionary leader in academia whose business acumen will encourage student learning within the school and extend into the community.”
Nolan’s business experience includes several roles within Boeing’s commercial airplanes and defense operations as an applied mathematician and financial systems manager before becoming a systems analyst for the Department of Defense. In 1977 he co-founded Nolan, Norton and Co., an international information technology consulting firm, where he oversaw operations for the next 14 years.
“I’m attracted to this university for its entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to making Seattle the nexus of technology and business,” Nolan said. “I view this gift, the Philip M. Condit Endowed Chair in Business Administration, as a leadership statement about the future of the UW Business School. Together with the efforts of a passionate faculty, committed students and technology-savvy leaders, we’re poised for great things. I am very pleased to play a part in the school’s promising future.”
In the academic arena, Nolan applied his knowledge of computer systems simulation and computer-based financial systems to a dual teaching appointment at the University of Illinois in the departments of accounting and industrial engineering. Nolan’s teaching career flourished from visiting associate professor to a full tenure-track professorship at Harvard Business School. The Condit Chair is Nolan’s third endowed professorship. Most recently at Harvard he was the William Barclay Harding Professor of Management of Technology.
###
