Some people judge a university and its programs by how many faculty it employs, the number of its buildings, or the monuments to the past it has erected. From its inception in 1977, Seattle Pacific University's School of Business and Economics (SBE) chose a different standard - quality faculty and curricula, commitment to values and ethics, and dedication to graduating students ready and able to impact their professional and personal worlds. This standard never has been abandoned. Leadership, vision and the unceasing quest for success and excellence has been SBE's hallmark throughout its history.

Dr. Joe Hope was appointed the first Dean of SBE in 1979. His energy and progressive thinking defined the foundation of SBE - to make the School of Business & Economics a high quality Christian business school. He guided the growth of the new professional school through its first full decade. The MBA program was launched in 1983. The Puget Sound business community and its leaders partnered with SBE, establishing the Executive Advisory Council. Dr. Hope took the lead in raising funds to support SBE programs, provide student scholarships and faculty development and open McKenna Hall. A generous donor gift established the first endowment, the Snellman Professor of Entrepreneurship. Dr. Herb Kierulff, nationally recognized expert on entrepreneurship, came to SPU from the University of Southern California to receive this first endowed professorship.

Joe Hope made ethics the cornerstone of the School of Business and created the Joseph C. Hope Leadership and Ethics endowment. The endowment conferred its first award on Dr. Alec Hill in 1993. Other faculty receiving this distinguished honor have been Dr. Ian Stewart, Dr. Gary Karns, Dr. Kenman Wong, and Dr. Denise Daniels.

Dr. Ken Knight succeeded Dr. Hope as Dean in 1990 and began the initial foray into the pursuit of AACSB accreditation. Dr. Knight, the faculty, and the staff of SBE recognized it would be a long, taxing climb for SBE to reach the pinnacle of this higher accreditation.

In 1995, Dr. Alec Hill, SBE's third Dean, directed the final crucial phase of the rigorous journey to AACSB accreditation. The path was long, the work was hard, and the final visitation review nerve-racking. But SBE refused to relinquish the dream. Alec Hill, along with President Phil Eaton, announced in April, 2000 that SPU's School of Business and Economics had been recognized by AACSB International as worthy of joining their elite group of accredited institutions. A cheer went up that, though it could not be heard around the world, most definitely could be heard across campus and into the streets of Seattle.

Other achievements followed. SBE in cooperation with the University launched the annual Greater Seattle Community Business Breakfast bringing together several hundred prominent business people from the Seattle area. The Center for Applied Learning, with Dr. Nancy Lucks as Director, was created to provide students practical learning opportunities beyond the classroom through a mentor program, internships, service learning and entrepreneurship. It is supported today through the Nancy Lucks Applied Learning Endowment and grant funding from the Herb Jones Foundation. Generous contributions from USWest and SBE alumni established the USWest Computer Lab in McKenna Hall, now referred to as the McKenna Computer Lab.

As the new century dawned, SBE determined not to live on the glory of past accomplishments. Charged with building on the foundation of accreditation, Dr. Jeff Van Duzer, was selected SBE's fourth Dean in 2001. Seeking to broaden and deepen SBE's influence, the school moved forward with a renewed vision to be nationally recognized as one of the premier Christian Business Schools in the world by fully integrating an academically rigorous business and economics curriculum with Christian faith and values.

In the nine years of Dr. Van Duzer's leadership, many new initiatives in support of the vision have been implemented to serve students, the community and the world. Oxford England was the inaugural site of the first Study Abroad Program which now sends undergraduate and graduate students to China as well. The first DeYoung Distinguished Speaker Series (now the AWB Distinguished Speaker Series) featured Tom O'Keefe, then CEO of Tully's Coffee. The Center for Integrity in Business was formed in 2002 to promote a thorough reevaluation of the purpose, role, and values of business in these times of moral and ethical crisis. There is "another way of doing business" and under this conviction, the School of Business and Economics at SPU continues its unwavering dedication to excellence.

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder,
and someone else is building on it.
1 Corinthians 3:10 NIV