Fundraising News
Case receives $2 million endowment from alumnus, a
former Microsoft executive
Funding to establish the Robert John Herbold
Professorship in Information Systems at the Weatherhead
School of Management
Robert John Herbold,
M.S. Mathematics '66,
Ph.D. Computer Science '68
Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management
is the recipient of an incredibly generous gift of $2 million from Robert
J. Herbold, retired executive vice president and chief operating officer
of Microsoft Corp., to its Information Systems department.
Known as the Robert John Herbold Professorship in Information Systems
for the Weatherhead School of Management, the endowment will support
two tenured associate professors in their mid-careers who are demonstrating
rapid career growth as evidenced by excellent teaching skills, consistently
excellent student ratings, a growing national reputation, and consistent
publication of papers and books that make a significant contribution
to the information technology profession.
“The driving force behind this endowment was my desire to help
Case Western Reserve University achieve its goal of true excellence,” said
Herbold. “I looked at a lot of alternatives and felt the Weatherhead
School has tons of potential and a robust opportunity, with the new
Dean’s exciting ideas, to use this gift to further that goal.”
Strong emphasis on student evaluations of candidates for these positions
may seem an odd twist, but Herbold’s phenomenally successful career
was inspired by Case professors Richard Varga and Fred Way, who gave
him well remembered classroom inspiration. As a graduate student assisting
Professors Way and Varga, he learned how a great teacher develops a
great relationship with the students by bringing a lot of fun and learning
into the classroom. He will be involved in the process of selecting
the two associate professors.
“The key role of any professor or teacher in general is to get
students excited about their particular area of study,” said Herbold. “A
professor needs not only a good level of knowledge, but also the ability
to connect and communicate with students. Getting students fired up
and excited is what a teacher does best!”
Herbold’s impressive background, first at the Proctor & Gamble
Company and later with Microsoft Corp., spans experience in every area
of corporate management. He earmarked the endowment for information
systems because he believes it gives students a unique sense of how
organizations are put together and operate, providing a great foundation
for business leadership. Herbold believes endowing funds in this area
will help strengthen the overall Weatherhead program, reputation and
standing on a national basis as well as generate real excitement on
the part of students.
“Business school students need to graduate with an understanding
of how an organization works,” said Herbold. “They need
to know how information systems and databases can create competitive
advantage, how to design and implement telecommunications networks that
facilitate instant organization-wide communications, and how to architect
information system infrastructures that enables rapid change of business
models. Technology evolves so quickly that it is important for students
to gain understanding of information system concepts and practices to
become effective business leaders.”
Herbold’s love of learning and interest in improving the educational
system extends beyond his gift to Weatherhead. Chosen by President George
W. Bush as Chairman of the Workforce/Education Subcommittee of the President’s
Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), he led a team
of nine corporate executives and university presidents in an exploration
of the health of the U.S. “innovation ecosystem.” That ecosystem
is made up of the combined efforts of the country’s technical
talent, venture capital firms, and industry/government/university research
activities and it is typically what spawns the bright ideas that become
entirely new industries or help rejuvenate mature industries. The committee
studied the status of the country’s science and engineering capabilities
and the education pipeline that supports them. The resulting report, “Sustaining
the Nation’s Innovation Ecosystem: Maintaining the Strength of
Our Science and Engineering Capabilities” was prepared and submitted
to the President in June 2004. As stated in this report, Herbold believes
the ability of the U.S. to maintain its global industrial leadership
is dependent upon the core capabilities which drive our innovation ecosystem,
namely, our scientific and engineering talent,. He has taken concrete
action upon those beliefs with his endowment to the Weatherhead School
of Management.
“There is a deep appreciation on my part for the experience
I had at Case,” said Herbold. “The school, the professors
and the environment created excitement in me to tackle with confidence
and enthusiasm the never-ending challenges in the business world.”
Although technically retired from Microsoft Corp., Herbold has no
plans to rest on his laurels. He is Managing Director of The Herbold
Group LLC, a consulting business focused on profitability. He is currently
traveling extensively to promote The Fiefdom Syndrome, his recently
published book about the turf battles and bureaucracy that undermine
careers and companies and how to overcome them. He also serves on the
Board of Directors of Weyerhaeuser Corp., Agilent Technologies, First
Mutual Bank and Cintas Corp.
In 2001, Herbold and his wife of 38 years formed The Herbold Foundation,
a private foundation that provides numerous four year scholarships each
year for needy, talented high school seniors interested in majoring
in math, science or engineering.
Herbold has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Cincinnati
and both a master’s degree in mathematics and a doctorate in computer
science from Case. He joined Microsoft in November 1994 after 26 years
at The Proctor & Gamble Company where, during his last 5 years,
he served as senior vice president of advertising and information services.
Until his retirement in 2001 from Microsoft, Herbold was responsible
for finance, manufacturing and distribution, information systems, human
resources, corporate marketing, market research and public relations
and, as COO, instrumental in the four fold increase in revenue and seven
fold increases in profits the company realized during that time. From
spring 2001 until June 2003, he worked part time for Microsoft as executive
vice president assisting in the government, industry and customer areas.
March 9, 2005 | For more information: Janet
Roberts (216)-368-8895
|
