OSU College of Business

The Oregon State University College of Business is one of 12 colleges that comprise Oregon State University (OSU) in Corvallis, Oregon. The land-grant institution opened in 1868 as Oregon Agricultural College. As of 2015, the college featured nearly 4,000 students. It offers undergraduate degrees in accounting, business information systems, finance, management and marketing, as well as in apparel design, graphic design, interior design and merchandising management. The college also has an MBA program that features tracks in accountancy, business analytics, commercialization, global operations, marketing, research thesis and wealth management (business analytics is offered in Portland, in addition to Corvallis, in a hybrid format blending online and in-person instruction; an executive leadership track is offered in Portland as well, under the same format). The college in 2014 expanded its graduate-level instruction by adding a Ph.D. program with options in accounting and innovation/commercialization Also in 2014, the college moved into its new, state-of-the-art home: $55 million, 100,000-square-foot Austin Hall, named for COB alumnus and A-dec founder Ken Austin and his wife Joan, the principle donors for the building project. Also named for the Austins, longtime university philanthropists, are the college's Austin Entrepreneurship Program and Austin Family Business Program In addition to Ken Austin, founder of dental equipment maker A-dec, Inc., notable College of Business alumni include E*Trade founder Bernie Newcomb and Al Reser, 46-year president of Reser's Fine Foods. The College of Business is accredited by AACSB International, top accreditation agency for collegiate business schools. AACSB is also the primary accreditation organization for accounting programs, and the College of Business' accounting program is accredited as well. Instruction in commerce began at Oregon Agricultural College in 1898, and degrees in commerce were first awarded in 1904. Four years later, OAC created the School of Commerce, naming John Andrew Bexell as dean, and in 1922 the school moved into the new Commerce Hall, renamed Bexell Hall in 1966. In July 2015, Mitzi Montoya was named as the college's 10th dean, replacing the retiring Ilene Kleinsorge. From the time Bexell headed the School of Commerce, later known as the Division of Business and Industry, the School of Business and Technology, and the School of Business before being renamed the College of Business in 1983, changes in leadership have been infrequent. Bexell was on the job for 23 years, and following a 10-year hiatus in business degree curriculum during the Great Depression, Clifford E. Maser took over and served for 24 years, followed by Earl Goddard, who held the post for 16 years. A timeline of College of Business Deans is as follows: 1908–31: John Andrew Bexell 1931–41: Degree curriculum suspended, no Dean 1942–66: Clifford E. Maser 1967–83: Earl Goddard 1983: Cliff Gray (interim) 1984–90: M. Lynn Spruill 1990: Wilbur Widicus (interim) 1991–2000: Donald F. Parker 2001–02: Sabah Randhawa (interim) 2003–15: Ilene K. Kleinsorge 2015–present: Mitzi Montoya