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School of Business
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Mary Ellen Stephenson
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Management prof von der Embse named Distinguished Hoosier
May 18, 2007
KOKOMO, Ind.—Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels has conferred the honor of Distinguished Hoosier on Indiana University Kokomo Professor of Management Thomas von der Embse, Ph.D. Von der Embse will retire from the School of Business this month, ending a 17-year teaching and administrative career at the Kokomo campus.
Dean of Business Niranjan Pati, Ph.D., nominated von der Embse for the recognition, and presented him the governor’s signed declaration during a May 4 scholarship luncheon an faculty tribute to the retiree. The declaration cited von der Embse’s state and regional service to education and economic/business development efforts.
IU Kokomo hired von der Embse in 1990 to chair what was then the Division of Business and Economics. His primary charge was to develop a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) program for the campus. The first M.B.A. degrees were conferred in 1994. During that time his position became Dean, and the division was renamed the School of Business. Von der Embse served as Dean until 2001 when, following a seven-year candidacy process, the School attained its professional accreditation by the AACSB—Association for the Advancement of Collegiate Schools of Business, the premier accreditation body for business schools.
“The M.B.A. proposal was presented to the legislature in 1991. Getting it approved was a milestone,” he said. “We had to develop the curriculum, hire faculty, organize an advisory board. We had members from Delphi, community leaders, and IU Bloomington representatives working with us to design a program oriented toward working professionals.
“We had authorization to hire nine new faculty, more than double the number we had when I arrived. It’s most satisfying that those [hired by von der Embse] who stayed have all been promoted to the rank of professor by now. They and the staff helped immensely in getting us AACSB accredited.”
During 13 years of teaching Organizational Policy and Strategy, the professor has overseen 80 capstone projects in which student teams—both M.B.A. candidates and undergraduates—serve as pro bono consultants to local businesses as part of their course requirements. The students meet with business clients outside of class, do a complete strategic organizational and financial analysis of their enterprise, and recommend improvements in marketing, financing, organization and management strategy.
Von der Embse said he tells students, “This is the client’s livelihood. Any recommendations you make can have a tremendous impact. Make sure you get it right.”
Teams formally present recommendations for their clients, professor, and classmates at the end of the semester. Recommendations “usually feed into what clients have already been thinking about, but haven’t investigated yet,” von der Embse said. Ideas for marketing a company’s services or financing growth are recurring themes. “At the presentation, I usually ask the client, ‘Are there certain recommendations that you can run with now?’ That usually is the case.”
Von der Embse plans to continue teaching part time, consulting, and writing, particularly on the subject of business ethics. He is currently completing revisions to the third edition of a series of management texts he authored for the National Management Association.
With retirement, von der Embse will end his weekly commutes between campus and southwestern Ohio, where his wife, Kay, serves as a hospice social worker. The couple co-founded a not-for-profit, community-based hospice a few years ago with a group of health professionals, and Dr. von der Embse serves on its board. Although he’ll be moving to Ohio permanently, von der Embse said he’ll still feel a strong Hoosier and IU connection. He obtained his M.B.A. in Bloomington prior to his doctorate at Ohio State.
“And, I’ll continue to be a Colts fan, except when they play the Bengals,” he added. “Were it not for our families in Ohio, I would want to remain in Indiana.”
Terri Butler, left, and Kathy Parkison, right, presented gifts to von der Embse, marking his retirement
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