F. David Fowler, a former dean of the George Washington University School of Business whose leadership and management skills were widely lauded, died on Jan. 18. He was 89.
Fowler, whom the F. David Fowler Career Center in Duquès Hall is named after, was GW Business dean from 1992 to 1997 and worked tirelessly to admit a diverse and competitive student body, which helped the school rise to international prominence.
During Fowler's tenure, the quality of new graduate students steadily rose, with GMAT scores for entering M.B.A. candidates increasing by 40 points between 1996 to 1999. He opened the doors of admission to the international community as he traveled extensively throughout Southeast Asia recruiting students and making connections on behalf of GW Business.
Under Fowler’s watch, the school established the joint M.B.A. in International Business/M.A. in International Affairs program, which attracted outstanding students and had a highly selective admissions process. Also, in the summer of 1995, the International Institute of Tourism Studies established a certificate in tourism destination management, in response to increased student interest in tourism administration.
In 1996, the school launched four new research centers—the Center for Public Financial Management, the Financial Markets Research Institute, the Institute for Global Management and Research and the Center for Law Practice Strategy and Management Faculty.
At the time of his retirement in 1997, U.S. News & World Report ranked the GW Business (then called the School of Business and Public Management) part-time M.B.A program among the 20 best in the country. The U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship named the school’s entrepreneurship program the best in the country for three straight years, and Success magazine ranked it as one of the top business schools for entrepreneurs. The school's organizational behavior and development program also ranked among the top five nationally by academics, practitioners and managers in a survey published in OD Practitioner.
“Dean Fowler’s wise, calm and firm guidance skillfully led the Business School through some tumultuous times,” said GW Business Professor of Decision Sciences and Psychology Phil Wirtz, who has been a member of the faculty at GW Business for more than 28 years. “His legacy will live on in the form of the F. David Fowler Career Center; those of us who knew him well feel a deep sense of personal loss with his passing. He will be forever remembered.”
Fowler came to GW in July of 1992 from KPMG Peat Marwick, where he was managing partner of the Washington office and member of the board of directors. He had also served as chairman, International Personnel Development Committee, chairman, KPMG Peat Marwick Foundation and as a member of the operating and strategic planning committees. Prior to joining Peat Marwick, Fowler was a treasurer in a privately held company.
Despite never working in higher education prior to his time at GW, his leadership skills and expertise from the private sector carried over to the dean’s office.
“As a non-academic by background, I do not doubt that some of my academic colleagues had misgivings about his appointment, but he always listened attentively to faculty and made very thoughtful administrative decisions,” said GW Business Professor of Marketing Pradeep Rau. “As a department chair, I worked closely with him and am confident that the school is stronger because of his tenure at the helm. Looking back, I miss his even-tempered leadership.”
He left a legacy at GW and one that will continue to benefit students and other members of the university community.
“The number of lives and careers Mr. Fowler touched through his kindness and generosity is in the thousands,” said Mark Strassman, Endowed Blaser Family Executive Director of the F. David Fowler Career Center. “All those students that passed through the doors of the F. David Fowler Career Center and will continue to come through our doors will live on as a testament to the incredible man that he was. His name will live on as a part of the tapestry of GW School of Business.”
