Recent Professorships
Vern Buehler Appreciation Dinner and Celebration of the Dr. Vernon Maughan Buehler and MaRee C. Buehler Endowed Professorships
Joyce Albrecht, and USU President Stan Albrecht
On January 17, 2006, Vern Buehler was honored at an appreciation dinner held in his honor at the home of Utah State University’s president. Close friends and family along with representatives of Utah State University and the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business celebrated the Dr. Vernon Maughan Buehler and MaRee C. Buehler Endowed Professorships.
Following a warm welcome by President Albrecht, Dean Caryn Beck-Dudley paid tribute to Mr. Buehler, recognizing him as a visionary and a bold thinker. She remarked that she is grateful for his sound advice as a faculty member in Business Administration in 1985 when she was a 20–something assistant professor.
Dean Beck–Dudley focused on Vern’s vision. She recalled how his idea of Partners in Business seemed outrageous at the time. The idea of bringing in Alan Greenspan, Malcolm Forbes, T. Boone Pickens to Logan, Utah, seemed undoable. Yet Vern managed to bring that idea to a reality that has continued for many years.
And Vern’s vision didn’t end there. Dean Beck–Dudley recalled Vern's involvement with the renowned Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing, which was sketched on a napkin with Shigeo Shingo himself. Once again, Vern outdid himself by creating an international awards program for lean manufacturing in Logan, Utah.
Dean Beck–Dudley concluded with what she considers the most important aspect of Vern's vision – the endowments and scholarships that Vern has made possible. She had approached Jack Lampros, a retired banker who was also an early supporter of the Partner’s Program as well as a good friend of Vern’s, about honoring Vern with a professorship and he was enthusiastic. Later, Dean Beck–Dudley spoke with Vern about completing the gift so that there would be a fully endowed professorship in the college. In typical Vern Buehler fashion, Vern recognized the importance of retaining the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business ’ high quality faculty and stated that one professorship was not enough.
Vern has now fully endowed three professorships in the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business . The inaugural recipients honored at the appreciation dinner were Dr. Vijay Kannan, Dr. Ronda Callister and Dr. John Gilbert.
More about Dr. Vernon Maughan Buehler.