Stepping down, branching out: MU business dean focusing on economic development efforts

After spending decades laying the foundation for the business leaders of tomorrow, MU’s outgoing business school dean plans to devote more of his time leveraging university resources to lure their companies to Missouri.
During Bruce Walker’s 20-year tenure as dean, the Trulaske College of Business expanded enrollment, gained a national reputation, nurtured relationships with the city and alumni and moved into a new $30 million building, Cornell Hall.
More than 85 percent of the college’s current faculty and staff members were hired during Walker’s watch.
On Sept. 1, Florida State University business school administrator Joan Gabel will replace Walker, who served in the position almost four times longer than he said is typical for a dean. “I’m way beyond my shelf life,” he said with a laugh.
But Walker will stay active in the business school and Columbia’s business community.
Walker began bridging the town-gown divide years ago. The business college’s collaborative programs with the business community include entrepreneurship competitions, business plan contests, mentoring and guest lecturing. MBA students also consult for local businesses and start-ups, including several that have moved into the MU Life Sciences Business Incubator.
The key to these programs, Walker said, is that they provide a win-win situation for local businesses and the school by providing a service to local businesses and real-world experience for students.
Walker moved to Columbia after receiving a bachelor of arts from Seattle University and a doctorate from the University of Colorado and teaching at Arizona State University for 16 years. He’s been impressed with the stability of Columbia’s economy and the expansion in the financial and health care sectors.
Banking is one area from which Walker has had a birds-eye view while serving on the Boone County National Bank board of directors.
Steve Erdel, CEO of BCNB, said Walker is “one of the best directors I’ve ever worked with.”
The key to Walker’s success, Erdel said, is his ability to look at the long-term impact of a situation and apply that knowledge on a local level.
Although Walker is stepping down as dean, Erdel said the bank is not ready to let him go.
“Bruce has a long time to go on the board as far as I’m concerned,” Erdel said, adding that he hopes Walker will now have time to serve on additional subcommittees at the bank.
Walker also serves on the task force that established Centennial Investors, an early-stage venture capital program based in Columbia.
Preparing for the new global economy, the College of Business has expanded its international and external programs. The experiences outside the classroom, such as annual trips to Wall Street, are part of the wider array of educational opportunities the college has begun to offer. They are vital, Walker said, because class work is no longer enough to prepare students for the business world.
Former students and business leaders have also been welcomed to the business college as part of its visiting speaker program. Students can see the value in the visiting speakers, Walker said, while faculty members sit in during the presentations and view them as an extension of what has been taught in class.
Looking back at all the business college has achieved since 1990, Walker said the two main contributions during his time as dean were continuity and leadership.
As part of his new position, Walker will work with the college’s Cornell Leadership Program. The program helps develop the leadership skills of undergraduate students that Walker said are extremely important in the current business climate.
“I’ve always believed that leadership is a key aspect in preparation of our students…for success,” he said.

Walker’s own leadership led to two accomplishments he’s particularly proud of: the construction of Cornell Hall, completed in 2002, and the gift that rechristened the college as the Robert J. Trulaske College of Business in 2007. Walker said money received from Geraldine Trulaske in her husband’s name has been used for strategic purposes such as scholarly research and professional development of students.
As the school has focused on developing students, the nation has taken notice. In the recent rankings issued by U.S. News and World Report, the college’s undergraduate business and MBA programs were ranked No. 48 and No. 49, respectively, and the graduate accountancy program was ranked No. 19 by Public Accounting Report.
“The Trulaske College has seen enrollments grow dramatically, and, at the same time, the college’s scholarly productivity and reputation have grown to the point that MU now has one of the nation’s leading business schools,” MU Provost Brian Foster said in October when announcing Walker’s plans to step down as dean.
Although Cornell Hall might stand as a physical reminder of all Walker has accomplished, former students remember less tangible effects of the outgoing dean’s leadership.
While an MBA student at MU during Walker’s early years, Brooke Hawkins had the opportunity to assist the new dean in the production of a marketing textbook. His contribution involved finding articles that fit specific case studies Walker was hoping to include in the textbook, Hawkins recalled. In total, he said he probably spent about 100 hours working on the project.
When the book was published, however, Hawkins said he was surprised to find his name listed as one of the book’s contributors.
Walker “was going out of his way to give me a disproportionate amount of credit,” Hawkins said.
Walker said, “Whatever the college has accomplished during my time as dean has been the result of a fantastic team effort, including faculty and staff members, students, alumni, generous donors, business partners, campus-level administrators and certainly my wife, Pam.”
Although Walker might wish to share the credit for all the school has accomplished, Hawkins seemed happy to give credit to a man too modest to do so himself.
“That guy has done so many wonderful things for the university,” Hawkins said. “People don’t get all the things he’s done.”