|
Reginald H. Jones, W'39, Overseer Emeritus
Reginald H. Jones,
W'39, Overseer
Emeritus
Reginald H. Jones, W'39,
Wharton emeritus Overseer,
Penn emeritus trustee, and
former CEO of General
Electric Company, died on
December 30, at the age
of 89.
Mr. Jones was born in
Stoke-on-Trent, England
and moved to the U. S. when
he was eight years old. He
graduated from the Wharton
School in 1939. While at
Penn he was elected president
of Beta Gamma, the national
honorary academic fraternity, and was treasurer of Phi
Sigma Kappa.
He joined General Electric
in the company's Business
Training Course in 1939.
Three years later, he became
a traveling auditor, moving to
general management, serving
as manager of company businesses in the consumer, utility, industrial, construction
and distribution fields. In
1968, he became GE's CFO
and was elected senior vice
president two years later. In
1972, he became president,
then chairman and chief
executive officer. As CEO
he brought new strategic
direction to GE, emphasizing strong internal growth
fostered by research and development, strategic planning
and the introduction of the
sector structure that "prepared the organization and
the people to meet General
Electric's long-range growth
opportunities in the decade
ahead," Mr. Jones said at the
time.
Throughout his career, Mr. Jones maintained a close
connection with Wharton
and Penn. In 1968 he joined
the Penn Board of Trustees
and continued as a trustee
emeritus and honorary
trustee until his death. As
chair of the Development
Committee he represented
Penn in boardrooms across
the nation. He was a founding member of the Wharton
Board of Overseers, its chair
for 13 years, and the chair
emeritus. He was also chair
of the Joseph H. Lauder
Institute Board of Governors.
He was also honored with the
creation of a professorship
and research center bearing
his name.
"Reg's legendary leadership of General Electric
stands as one of the finest
examples in business history,"
said Dean Patrick Harker.
"He was a man of great
creativity and morality, and
his loyalty and devotion to
his alma mater were beyond
measure. He continues to
inspire us in all of our work."
Mr. Jones is survived
by his wife, Grace Cole
Jones, CW'39; his son, the
Reverend Keith Edwin Jones,
W'64; his daughter, Grace
Jones Vineyard, CW'66; five grandchildren and three
great-grandchildren.
Isik Inselbag, former vice dean
and director of
Graduate Division
Isik Inselbag, Wharton
finance professor and former
vice dean and director of the
Graduate Division, passed
away in March. He was a
member of the Wharton
community for more than
two decades.
A native of Turkey, Dr.
Inselbag earned his bachelor's
degree from Robert Kolej and
his doctorate from Columbia
University. After working at
Bogazici University in Turkey
and the State University of
New York at Binghamton, he
joined Wharton as a member of the Finance faculty in
1982. He served in several
key administrative leadership
positions, including associate
director (1985-87) and director of the Executive MBA
Program (1987-91), and
director (1991-92) and vice
dean and director (1992-95) of the Graduate Division.
Since stepping down as vice
dean, he had returned to
teaching and research as a
senior fellow of the Financial
Institutions Center and academic course director for the
Finance Department. He also
served as the faculty advisor
for undergraduates in the
Finance Department.
His professional expertise enabled him to
influence business practice
as a consultant to such
global business enterprises
as Conrail, Bankers Trust
Company, Finansbank of
Turkey, the European Bank
for Reconstruction and
Development, the World
Bank, General Electric,
DuPont, Merrill Lynch,
Chemical Bank, OECD, Bell
Atlantic, CoreStates Bank,
the Industrial Development
Bank of Turkey, and Pfizer of
Turkey.
In his role as vice dean
and director of the Graduate
Division, Dr. Inselbag was
instrumental in the design
and launch of the curriculum
reforms in the MBA program
during the 1990s, which
included the core curriculum
and the team-based learning
format. His contributions to
this landmark achievement
helped garner increased international recognition for
Wharton among corporate
executives, prospective students and the media, and set
the stage for years of record-breaking admissions results
and programmatic excellence.
"Isik will be greatly missed
by his colleagues and the
many students and alumni
with whom he worked over
the years," said Dean Harker. "He will be remembered for
his unwavering commitment
to our students, his role as a
mentor to staff, and his collaboration with the faculty."
Dr. Inselbag is survived by
his wife, Cagla, and his son, Mehmet.
|
