Eberhardt School of Business
Eberhardt School History
Over 30 Years of Excellence
Business courses have been offered at the University of the Pacific for most of its 152-year history. In 1977, the business program was recognized as a separate school and named the School of Business and Public Administration (SBPA). It was the first new professional school established at Pacific since 1955. In 1978, Dean Elliot Kline assumes leadership as the first dean of the business school at the University.
By 1984, shortly after the new school became eligible, it was fully accredited by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business. In 1982, SBPA moved into Weber Hall, one of the first buildings constructed when the campus was moved from San Jose to Stockton in 1924, and named for Captain Charles Weber, founder of the City of Stockton.
In 1988, Dean Mark Plovnick assumes leadership over the SBPA and stays in this role until 2006. With the arrival of a business school, an intensive fund-raising campaign was launched to completely refurbish the building. This project, completed in 1989, along with continued upgrades and renovation since then, have equipped the Eberhardt School of Business with modern classrooms, offices, a computer laboratory and executive development facilities that provide an excellent environment for business education.
An important community-service aspect for the Eberhardt School was the establishment of a Center for Management Development in 1989. In September 1991, the center was officially named in recognition of donations from Edward W. Westgate, a former member of Pacific’s Board of Regents.
In 1993, the School expanded to include a graduate program, offering a Master of Business Administration, and developed a five-year BS/MBA program. One year later, twelve students graduated in the inaugural MBA class.
In 1995, the School was renamed the Eberhardt School of Business in recognition of the support given to both the School and the University by the Eberhardt Family. Robert M. Eberhardt (a 1950 business alumnus) succeeded his father as President of the Bank of Stockton and Chair of the Board of Regents. When he died unexpectedly in 1993, his wife, Mimi Eberhardt, assumed his position as a regent, while his brother, Douglass, business class of ’59, became President of the Bank of Stockton. Douglass Eberhardt is now a regent of Pacific. Six members of the Eberhardt family have received degrees from the University and numerous employees of the Bank of Stockton and their families are Pacific alumni.
In 1996, The Eberhardt School has established innovative programs in entrepreneurship and received more than $2.6 million in grants from the Fletcher Jones, General Mills and Coca-Cola foundations and a major anonymous donor. A suite housing the offices for the Center for Entrepreneurship was constructed in Weber Hall utilizing funds donated in memory of Greenlaw Grupe, Sr. This center houses the Institute for Family Business, an Invention Evaluation Service, and the Real Estate Institute. Gaining distinction through a popular public Business Forum, the Eberhardt School brings prominent business and government leaders to campus several times each year. Participants have included Masaaki Morita, Chairman of the Sony Corp.; Richard Rosenberg, Chairman of Bank of America; and John Chambers, Chairman of Cisco Systems, among many other well known leaders.
In 1999, the School received a 10-year re-accreditation from AACSB International —The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. The site-visit team noted that student evaluations of teaching at the Eberhardt School were the highest they had seen. In 2000, community service outreach activities were recognized by the San Joaquin Council of Governments, awarding Eberhardt School of Business its Regional Excellence Award. As expressed in its mission statement, the business school is committed to excellence in business and management education: To prepare students for successful careers as leaders of business, government and not-for-profit organizations; to integrate a broad-based education with business principles in a personalized learning environment; to continue a commitment to small classes and opportunities for extensive interaction among students, faculty and practitioners.
During 2003 to 2005, the Business Forecasting Center received $1.4 million in grants to greatly expand its services. The Center provides quarterly reports on current business activity and forecasting future economic trends as well as performing research and consulting services for public and private sector organizations. The Center is enhancing the scope of its activities to play a vital role in the region’s economic development. The University announced a $200 million Comprehensive Campaign in 2003 called "Investing in Excellence", to launch an aggressive effort to build Pacific’s endowment for scholarships, faculty and programs, and to invest in new facilities and renovation. The Eberhardt School of Business campaign target of $15 million focuses on funding outstanding students, faculty and facilities that will enable the School to continue to provide the finest business education available.
In 2006, Dean Chuck Williams became dean. The Eberhardt School gave its students daily print and online access to the world's leading business publication in 2006. Only three California institutions operate as a Wall Street Journal partner school. In this program, students have daily print and online access to the Journal and it is integrated into course instruction. In 2007, the $1 million Eberhardt Student Investment Fund was established, thanks to a gift from the Bank of Stockton and its president and CEO, Douglass M. Eberhardt. The Eberhardt School then became one of only 200 business schools to offer a student-managed investment fund out of over 9,000 business schools worldwide.
September 2008, Richard Flaherty was named dean of the Eberhardt School of Business.
