Dean's Vision

What is the vision of the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business? Why have we attracted the attention and support of two of America’s greatest entrepreneurs, Jon Huntsman and Charles Koch? The affection and engagement of Stephen R. Covey, the first Jon M. Huntsman Presidential Professor of Leadership? The interest and support of scores of other business leaders, friends, and alumni of this institution? The energy and devotion of our talented and committed faculty and staff?

What was the destiny that Jon Huntsman foresaw?

It was John Winthrop’s vision of “a shining city upon a hill”—set in the most beautiful valley of the Rocky Mountains;

It was Abraham Lincoln’s vision of a land-grant institution of higher learning where the sons and daughters of America’s laboring, toiling, and striving classes would receive an undergraduate education equal to the finest offering in the land;

Where our students would be transformed by their own hard work, and by exposure to the excellence and high standards of an extraordinary and well trained faculty;

Where as a result of these combined efforts a community would be established, striving together for excellence that would serve as an engine of growth for this university, the State of Utah, the nation, and the world, and that would become a wellspring of the most refreshing resource this nation and the world could possibly have, namely, leaders—ethical leaders—equipped with analytical capability, global vision, and entrepreneurial spirit, capable and eager to contribute to the development of those institutions most vital to the success of a free and democratic society.

I am happy to say that this vision, this sense of purpose and meaning, was not invented a dozen years ago.  It was present in the soil and atmosphere of this university long before that. It was present when I showed up as a transfer student to USU from Stanford in the fall of 1971.  It was present when my parents were students here in the 1940’s.  It was present at the founding of this institution on March 8, 1888.

Yet, we know that in all institutions, as in the natural world, there is a law of entropy that works in opposition to excellence, to growth, and to achievement.  Without our constant effort, vigilance, and devotion this great school, this wonderful university, this luminous community on the hill in Cache Valley, will lose its luster.  The gears of the engine will clog, and it will fail to achieve its vital mission to develop leaders of distinction in commerce and public affairs.

And so we endeavor each day to build on the success of our past; to make things a little better today than yesterday; to come ever closer to realizing our ambition, “to become the premier undergraduate business and economics program in the Intermountain West.”

Douglas D. Anderson
Dean and Jon M. Huntsman Presidential Professor