EUGENE, Ore. -- (April 28, 2010) - A University of Oregon alumnus who has served as the dean of two other prestigious business management schools has been chosen to head UO's Lundquist College of Business.

Cornelis A. "Kees" de Kluyver will take over as the Lundquist dean on Sept. 1. He will replace Dennis Howard, who was hired in July 2008 for a two-year appointment. Howard will continue in that role until de Kluyver arrives on campus next fall.

"Kees de Kluyver is uniquely qualified to guide the Lundquist College of Business into a future of promise and opportunity," said UO Senior Vice President and Provost James Bean, who served as the business college dean before being promoted to his current position. "He has proven his leadership abilities while serving as the dean of business schools at Claremont Graduate University and George Mason University, and in a highly successful career in business. He also has a deep appreciation for the University of Oregon."

de Kluyver was born in the Netherlands and did undergraduate work at Nyenrode Business University, then earned a bachelor's degree in marketing and a master of business administration degree from UO. He received another master's degree and his doctorate in operations research from Case Western Reserve University, a private research school in Cleveland, Ohio. He was an associate professor of management at Purdue University and a professor of marketing at University of Virginia before serving as dean of the School of Business Administration at George Mason University from 1991 to 1994, and as dean of the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University in California from 1999 to 2006. He continues to serve as the Masatoshi Ito Professor of Management at Claremont.

In addition to his academic career, de Kluyver worked from 1986 to 1991 as a partner specializing in strategy and organizational effectiveness with Cresap Management Consultants, a Towers Perrin company. His work with the firm, which has offices in New York and London, focused on clients in the high technology and service industries.

de Kluyver's areas of research expertise include global strategy and corporate governance. His four books include "Strategy: A View from the Top," co-authored with John A Pearce II, which is in its third edition and has been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean and Chinese; and his most recent, "A Primer on Corporate Governance."

He also plays banjo and tenor guitar in a Dixieland jazz band.

"My career has been shaped in significant ways by the education I received at the University of Oregon, and I am delighted to be returning to the campus that gave me my academic values," de Kluyver said. "The Lundquist College of Business is one of the top schools of its kind in the nation. Its faculty, staff and students are extraordinary, its research and teaching are cutting-edge and gaining recognition on a global scale, and its alumni and donors have demonstrated their readiness to support the Lundquist College's quest to become a top-tier institution.

"I believe my experience as a dean and as a global consultant will help me create a shared vision for the continued expansion of the college's links to the Pacific Rim, and for building on Lundquist's reputation in such areas as entrepreneurship and innovation, sustainability, sports business and securities analysis."

de Kluyver's accomplishments while serving as dean of the Claremont business school included the addition of master's programs in financial engineering and arts and cultural management, and more than $40 million in fundraising over a four-year period.

He was chosen to head the Lundquist College of Business following a search that began in November 2009, and was guided by R. William Funk & Associates, a Dallas, Texas firm that specializes in higher education searches. Michael Bullis, dean of the UO College of Education, served as chair of the search committee.

The Lundquist College of Business includes four centers of excellence - the Center for Sustainable Business Practices, the James H. Warsaw Sports Marketing Center, the Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship and the Securities Analysis Center. The business school includes 60 full-time tenure and non-tenure track faculty, and serves more than 4,300 undergraduate and graduate students. The college focuses on its Pacific Rim links, as well as distinctive qualities of Oregon culture that include innovation, sustainability, active lifestyles and financial stewardship.

About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is a world-class teaching and research institution and Oregon's flagship public university. The UO is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization made up of the 63 leading public and private research institutions in the United States and Canada. The University of Oregon is one of only two AAU members in the Pacific Northwest.

Media Contact: Joe Mosley, media relations associate, 541-346-3606, jmosley@uoregon.edu

Source: James Bean, UO senior vice president and provost, 541-346-3186, jcbean@uoregon.edu