A five-story residential learning center for executive education -- the Charles F. Knight Executive Education Center -- will be built on the former Mudd Hall site on the north side of the Hilltop campus for the John M. Olin School of Business.
The facility, named after the chairman and chief executive officer of Emerson Electric Co., will house degree and non-degree programs for mid- through senior-level executives and will serve a growing need for career-long learning.
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The structure, to be built directly east of Anheuser-Busch Hall and north of Simon Hall, will enclose more than 120,000 square feet. Groundbreaking will be in early 1999, and the facility should be finished in 2001.
Unique to this part of the Midwest, the structure will include classrooms, group study rooms, dining facilities, several lounges, a distance-learning studio and 65 units providing overnight lodging. Because it will offer learning and lodging in an integrated environment -- so that executive students no longer will need to go off-campus for overnight lodging when they have classes -- it is expected to attract participants from an even wider geographic area than the school now serves.
"The trustees' decision to build this structure signals the University's commitment to become a world-class provider of career-long learning opportunities to the management profession," Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton said, "and it's especially fitting that the building be known as the Charles F. Knight Executive Education Center, since Chuck Knight, one of the nation's most successful executives, has for many years provided crucial support and leadership to the University and the Olin School."
Knight chairs the school's National Council, an advisory group that oversees strategic planning, and, in 1980, he served as chairman of the task force that recommended further development and improvement of the school. He also was instrumental in strengthening the endowment during a campaign in the 1980s. In 1993, he received the school's Dean's Medal. From 1977 to 1990, Knight was a University trustee, and, in 1996, he was awarded an honorary doctor of science degree in recognition of his service to the University and the community.
Last year, Knight and Emerson Electric Co. made a combined $15 million challenge grant to the business school. Emerson Electric and Knight will match every dollar committed to the school, one to one, up to $15 million.
Emerson Electric Co., a global manufacturer of a wide range of electronic, electrical and related products and systems for industrial, commercial and consumer markets, had sales that grew to $12.3 billion in 1997. Its management practices are highly regarded and widely imitated. Knight joined Emerson in 1972, became chief executive officer a year later and assumed the duties of chairman in 1974.
Knight described the continuing education of managers as one critical element of a company's success. "To keep a competitive edge, a company must encourage managers to continue learning," he said. "This center will attract managers nationally and from around the world, as well as local executives who can obtain outstanding education without leaving our region."
The building, to be bounded on the north by Throop Drive and on the south by the campus mall, will allow the business school to expand its offerings of executive programs. The school's executive degree programs already are ranked No. 14 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. It also will allow the school to broaden its non-degree offerings -- open-enrollment courses and custom programs developed to meet a company's specific needs. Since 1993, the school has served more than 1,200 students in programs designed for companies including Anheuser-Busch, Edward Jones, Monsanto and SBC Communications.
"The Charles F. Knight Executive Education Center will allow us to provide the high-quality educational experience expected by management professionals," said Stuart I. Greenbaum, Ph.D., business school dean. "It will allow us to ensure our preeminence in executive education, and this, in turn, will benefit all of Olin's programs. We are deeply indebted to Chuck Knight and Emerson Electric."
The architectural firm Kallmann, McKinnell & Wood of Boston is designing the building. The firm designed Simon Hall, completed for the business school in 1985; McDonnell Hall, completed in 1992; and Alvin Goldfarb Hall, completed in April 1998 for the George Warren Brown School of Social Work.
Additional parking will be provided by adding a third level to the above-ground parking decks in the existing Millbrook Parking Garage.
Greenbaum said executive education programs will continue to grow, especially as job changes become more frequent and corporations outsource non-core activities. "Managers of the future will require lifelong professional development," he said, "and Olin will be the provider of choice."
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