Passing on Lessons Learned
Patty and Jay Baker Pledge $10 Million to Retail Initiative
"To be successful in retailing, you have to be
entrepreneurial not just at the start, but everyday," says Jay H.
Baker, W'56, former president and current director of the highly
successful Kohl's Corporation. After 44 years in the retail industry,
the 68-year-old Baker has experience and knowledge that few can
match and, to the industry's good fortune, a personal commitment
to ensuring a new generation of leaders.
In a move that reflects the entrepreneurial vision that shaped his
professional success, Jay Baker and his wife, Patty, have pledged
$10 million to the Wharton School to establish TheJay H. Baker Retailing
Initiative.
President Judith Rodin calls the commitment "an extremely important
gift that will provide a terrific framework for our students and
for our faculty to engage the retailing industry."
The Bakers' investment in retailing - a profession that some consider
lacking in glamour and innovation - comes at a time of rapid change
and industry-wide consolidation. As Baker points out, the distressed
job market in more traditional fields like finance and investment
banking may serve the industry well. "It's tougher out there, which
makes it more likely that more students will give retailing serious
consideration."
Wharton Dean Patrick T. Harker, CE'81, GCE'81, GR'83, says plans
for the Baker Initiative will capitalize on Wharton's strengths
in marketing and operations management. "Wharton is uniquely positioned
to explore the complex issues that make retailing such a dynamic
field. The entrepreneurial spirit of the School parallels that of
today's retailing industry."
Indeed, the Baker Initiative will have an unusually strong entrepreneurial
cast. The intercurricular blend of marketing, operations management,
and related fields will emphasize the need for a multi-faceted approach
to an industry in constant transition. "To succeed, one must continually
adapt, " says Baker, who likes to point out that Kohl's began when
Max Kohl opened a single grocery store more than 40 years ago.
To ensure that the initiative reflects his aspirations, Baker will
serve as chairman of an advisory board of industry leaders who will
help develop the program agenda. Stephen J. Hoch, Chairman of the
Marketing Department and an expert in the field of retailing, will
serve as faculty director.
Initially, Wharton undergraduates and MBA candidates will pursue
a secondary concentration, or minor, in retailing and retail marketing.
In time, Wharton, with the Bakers continued support, hopes to develop
the program into a retailing center with its own degree-granting
authority. "It is our hope that with the success we expect to achieve
over the next five years, we will be able to endow such a center,"
says Harker.
Other program components will include an endowed "super" chair for
an outstanding scholar; new courses in retailing and marketing;
a multi-year, cross-disciplinary research project to expose students
to the "dynamic nature" of retailing; a visiting lecture series
featuring industry leaders; undergraduate internships in retailing;
and; and doctoral fellowships to encourage future business faculty
to study retailing.
While other business schools, notably those at the University of
Florida and the University of California at Santa Clara, offer retailing
programs, Baker believes that Wharton is in a unique position to
launch a retailing initiative. "Wharton is the best business school
in the country," he points out with pride.
Baker also likes to remind people, "Retailing is a field where people
have made significant wealth." If he has his way, the future of
the field will be shaped significantly by Wharton alumni.
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Jay H. Baker (right) and Stephen J. Hoch, chairman of Wharton's Marketing Department, will provide key leadership in the development of the Baker Retailing Initiative.
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