University officials announce the creation of the William G. Dyer Institute for Leading Organizational Change. The new institute, housed in the Marriott School of Management, will further faculty research about organizational change and allocate resources to facilitate student research projects and field studies.
Kate Kirkham, executive director of the institute and professor of organizational leadership and strategy, says the combination of faculty and student resources will provide unique opportunities for research and additional curriculum resources.
“The institute will help maintain a link between Masters of Organizational Behavior alumni and their association with the Marriott School,” Kirkham adds. “It will create many new friends and help secure financial support from people interested in the study and practice of organizational change.”
Formation of the institute was initiated by a donation from the William G. Dyer family. Dyer was instrumental in establishing the Department of Organizational Behavior at BYU and served as its first chair. A BYU faculty member for more than 35 years, Dyer was also dean of the Marriott School from 1979 to 1984.
“He was noted for his ideas about how to improve organizations to make them more effective,” says Dyer’s son, Gibb, a professor of organizational leadership and strategy at BYU. “He would be pleased to know there’s an institute at BYU that is devoted to that purpose.”
The Dyer institute will focus on increasing student-mentored learning experiences, promoting the development of change theory and creating new curriculum and tools for leading organizational change. Dean Ned C. Hill says, “The Marriott School’s OBHR faculty has a long tradition of applied scholarship, research and effective teaching. The institute provides an integrated approach for both faculty and student learning about organizational change.”
For more information about the William G. Dyer Institute for Leading Organizational Change call 801-422-6829 or e-mail Kate_Kirkham@byu.edu.
The Marriott School is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. The school has nationally recognized programs in accounting, business management, public management, information systems, organizational behavior and entrepreneurship. The school’s mission is to prepare men and women of faith, character and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the Marriott School’s graduate and undergraduate programs.
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Writer: Andrew Watson