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Monday, July 28, 1997FACULTY:

Anderson School dean named

Professor Mamer will preside as interim head for a yearBy Gregory Mena

and Hannah Miller

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

He only has one year, but the new interim dean of the Anderson Graduate School of Management has big plans.

John Mamer, an Anderson School professor for the past 16 years, will take over Aug. 31 when Dean William Pierskalla leaves.

"I'm delighted to be in this position," Mamer said. "This year is going to be very good." He will run the ship for one year, then a permanent dean will be chosen by new UCLA Chancellor Albert Carnesale.

Mamer plans to improve the curriculum and further "technologize" the Anderson School.

In changing the curriculum, Mamer plans to make the school ­ in true business fashion ­ more market-oriented. "We must pay close attention to the needs of students," Mamer said. "We are striving also to raise the level of academic rigor."

One trend that must be more integrated into Anderson's curriculum is the globalization of the marketplace, already a focus for Anderson's highly international approach to business education.

"Barriers between countries are falling," Mamer said. "For example, look at NAFTA. We are becoming a global economy."

Mamer wants to improve Anderson's computer resources. He said the school is overcoming some "initial problems" in developing its computer networks.

"We want to continue integrating information technology into the curriculum," Mamer said.

In striving towards these aims, Mamer will be keeping his experience as a professor in mind.

Accomplishing these changes "is a matter of working with the administration to bring about really interesting faculty innovation," he said.

On the subject of admissions, Mamer sees Anderson as relatively independent of the Regents' decision to ban affirmative action. The ban took effect for the Fall 1997 incoming class.

Anderson school admissions have not seen much of a drop in ethnic minority enrollment, since it did not have a "lot of programs" in place before, Mamer said. The student body is diversified by a high enrollment of international students.

"No major change is predicted," Mamer said.

Educated at UC Davis and UC Berkeley, Mamer is a professor in decision sciences, a field related to mathematics and statistical analysis.

Dean William Pierskalla, who oversaw the school's move into a new building complex, announced his resignation in May.

His resignation came as a surprise to many Anderson faculty, including those who hired him.

"I'm just flabbergasted," James A. Collins told The Outlook in May. Collins, a $5 million donor to the school, served on the search committee that recruited Pierskalla. "That's a real surprise," he said.

Pierskalla, 62, said he wanted to spend more time with his family. He plans to return to teaching after a one-year sabbatical.

In the end, the promise of such a short term does not appear to daunt Mamer.

"The average tenure of deans is not very long in this country anyways," he said. His predecessor Pierskalla lasted four years in the job.

The Anderson School

Former Dean William PierskallaThe Anderson School

New Dean John Mamer

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