University at Buffalo School of Management

8 Buffalo Business Autumn 2023 The school was accredited in 1930 by the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business, which later became AACSB International. The following year, the school initiated a part-time MBA program and the first MBA degree was awarded to Harold A. Baker in 1933. Construction of Crosby Hall was completed in 1932, and the building became the first permanent home of the school. The UB Council named it in honor of the contribu- tions of William H. Crosby, a bicycle frame manufacturer who served on the UB Council and as university treasurer and chair of the finance committee. AACSB held its annual meeting in Buffalo that spring in conjunction with the dedication of Crosby Hall, and Dean Marsh was elected president of the association. At the same time, scholastic honor society Beta Gamma Sigma installed a chapter at the school. McGarry's memoir reflects the times: "During that year, we were riding high, wide and handsome," he wrote. "That is, until fall of that year when something hit us." Leaner times "Up until that time, the Depression was largely a matter of mere academic interest, to be discussed in Professor Tippett's business cycle course," McGarry wrote. "In general, college teaching was regarded as a sheltered occupation. Although it was before the days of Keynes' General Theory, we believed in deficit financing. Then suddenly, one aernoon, the heads of departments were called together and told that there was not enough money to go around; the banks refused to lend us more. There was no alternative but to accept a salary cut. Thus we learned the word 'retrenchment' the hard way." Enrollment stabilized between 1932 and 1942, never falling below 200 and never rising above 300. "Those were lean years for the university, and at times we hardly knew whether it could be held together," McGarry wrote. In 1942, enrollment began to drop further and by the following year, selective service had reduced the student body to a mere handful. An Engineering, Science and Defense Training (ESDT) program was established. In those days, according to McGarry, "We attempted to serve our country by giving pre-flight training to would-be officers of the air corps. The faculty had to bend its teaching of economics, labor and marketing to the Army's demand for strategy, tactics and logistics. Dean Somers taught physics. My own experience in handling horses in the field artillery in the first World War was a " When I arrived in 1927, there were six of us on the faculty of the business school. Dean Marsh, Dr. Epstein, Dr. Lockhart, Professor Burton, a man named Born and myself. ... We had unbound enthusiasm, for we knew we were building a new school." Edmund D. McGarry Professor of Marketing and Economics Students line up to register for classes outside Clark Hall in 1963.

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