Executive MBA Program: News

Oregon Executive MBA Welcomes Wes Balda

For Immediate Release:
Oregon Business Institute takes a new approach to executive education

The University of Oregon Lundquist College of Business has named Dr. Wes Balda its assistant dean for Portland programs. Balda will oversee the Oregon Business Institute, which will be the umbrella organization for the Oregon Executive MBA and all future programming at the facility. The appointment is part of the college’s initiative to expand its executive education offerings to Northwest businesses.

“A few months ago, we announced that in 2013 the University of Oregon would begin unilaterally offering the Oregon Executive MBA program” said Cornelis “Kees” de Kluyver, Dean of the UO Lundquist College of Business. “Balda’s expertise and experience pioneering executive education programs will be invaluable as we pursue our strategy of expanding our executive education offerings in Portland.”

Charged with leading the college's efforts to engage Portland and Northwest businesses in new ways, Balda will oversee the creation of a "building block" model of executive education—one that is currently offered by only a few other executive MBA programs in the world. This new model will enable professionals to earn certificates in specific knowledge areas without being required to enroll in the full executive MBA program. The full MBA will continue to be obtainable through the completion of multiple certificates.

Also reflecting the concept of "just-in-time education" is Balda's plan for the development of short courses and corporate programs—including international study tours—through the Oregon Business Institute. Short courses and corporate programs can be custom-tailored to an organization's specific needs.

“I am honored to have been selected to lead a flagship program of global caliber during this exciting period of transition," said Balda, who starts June 15. “The faculty and staff of the Oregon Executive MBA program are exceptional, and I look forward to working with them to rejuvenate the University of Oregon’s educational offerings to the business community in new and exciting ways.”

Balda was most recently the executive director of the Centre for Advancing International Management and a professor of management at St. George’s University, Grenada, West Indies. Previously, he was the founding dean at the George Fox University School of Management, where he developed their executive and professional MBA tracks, and created the first doctorate in management in the Northwest. Prior to joining George Fox University, Balda served as the director and chair of the Executive Management and PhD programs at Claremont Graduate University’s Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management. Among his other accomplishments, he cofounded, with Dr. Janis Balda, the Simeon Institute, which led the U.S. State Department’s effort to provide crisis management education to officials of the former Soviet Union.

Balda has worked in international efforts, including the 1985 Ethiopia Famine, and community development projects in several international urban centers. He has also created management education programs at Cambridge and Oxford and in the Caribbean and Brazil. Balda’s professional background also includes work as a senior agency head for the City of Ontario (CA), Ontario Police Department, World Vision U.S., World Vision International, and as a destroyer officer in the U.S. Navy.

Balda received his BA in urban planning from University of Washington; MA in historical theology from Fuller Theological Seminary; and PhD from the University of Cambridge, focusing on organizational continuity in management history.

Erika Foin remains the Executive Director of the Oregon Executive MBA program, which will continue with its current curricular focus and model until 2013.