It is no surprise that The Wall Street Journal has ranked the University at Buffalo School of Management one of the top ten business schools in the world for the past seven consecutive years. Nor is it a surprise that it has established MBA programs throughout the world, including Singapore, China, Hungary and Latvia.
John Thomas, Ph.D., has been the dean of the School of Management since 2002 and has been a great contributor to the success of the School of Management for over 30 years.
Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Thomas was raised in Illinois until the age of 13, when his father tragically passed away. His mother relocated the family back to Nebraska to be near Thomas' aunt during the rough time.
"It was tough to start over," Thomas said.
During high school in the Great Plains state, Thomas was interested in painting and theater, while his career goals was a polar opposite.
"I was thinking of going into engineering when I graduated," Thomas said. "I was good in math and science."
Thomas was so good in math and science that he started studying on scholarship as an engineering major at Yale University.
Thomas said it was difficult leaving home and attending school so far away. He credits his mother as the strong supporter of his education and said she was committed to his success.
Thomas quickly adjusted to his new environment and graduated from Yale with a combined degree in engineering and management.
He decided to attend graduate school right after college at the Sloan School of Management at MIT.
"Some very close friends of mine at Yale were going to MIT," Thomas said. "I decided to apply and join them - it was a great program."
Thomas continued his education through MIT to his doctorate degree.
"I wanted the academic life," Thomas said. "Being a professor gives you a certain amount of freedom. It is always rewarding to teach."
After completing his doctoral studies, Thomas almost accepted a position at Stanford University, but instead took advantage of an opportunity to go to India and help establish a new school of management.
His decision to go to India shaped the rest of career, which would also help shape the future of the UB School of Management.
Thomas lived and worked in India with his wife, Susan, for three and a half years, and his first child, Kirsten, was born in India.
His work in India inspired him to pursue international education and made him realize the importance for young people to learn about the global economy, especially in how it affects their lives.
Upon returning from India, Thomas went back to MIT and eventually came to Buffalo in 1968.
"I came during a period where there was a lot of growth in the University," Thomas said.
Thomas came to UB as a professor in the Doctorial Program in Policy Studies, which was a program for students who wanted careers in public policy.
In 1972, he shifted to the School of Management, at which time he also went back to being a student; Thomas enrolled in the UB Law School and in 1976, he received his law degree.
India had inspired Thomas to obtain his law degree because he noticed a link between the importance of a strong law foundation and the success of developing economies.
Thomas then used his law degree to focus on international business transactions and the important legal relations that are needed for managing in a global economy.
The School of Management then became interested in international business. Joseph Alutto, Ph.D., the dean of the School of Management in 1984, involved Thomas in establishing a United States MBA program in China.
UB was the first university in the US to establish an American MBA program in China. Much of Thomas' traveling to Dalian, China was for this program.
In 1989, the program was abruptly halted because of the Tiananmen Square crisis. Thomas was in China at that time and was immediately ordered by the United States government to leave China and return to the United States. The Canadian government evacuated him to Hong Kong, where he was then able to get a way home to the US.
Thomas returned to China the following year to complete and graduate the class that had their program interrupted. The China program graduated four MBA classes before it had to fold.
In 1992, Thomas became involved in a US government program to assist former Soviet states in Central and Eastern Europe to develop market-oriented economics and business education. Thomas collaborated with Stephen Dunnett, Ph.D., now UB vice provost for international education, and Voldemar Innus, former UB chief information officer, in establishing a new business school in Riga, Latvia. The school is now very well known and successful in that region.
In addition, Thomas directed a US government program that worked with several universities in Hungary to assist in the development of new business schools.
Thomas said that UB has a great reputation in these countries now. UB stepped up and worked hard to get these new government programs funded. UB especially helped with supplying training faculty for the program.
In 1996, Thomas continued his world travels by starting an MBA program in Singapore, which is now partnered with UB's psychology program that was recently established there.
In 1997, Thomas was asked to go back to China to restart their MBA program. While there, he administered a new program that was partnered with Motorola.
Thomas became dean of the UB's School of Management in 2002, after serving for many years as associate dean for international programs.
As dean of the School of Management, Thomas is still encouraging the development of international programs. In addition to the international success and growth he has brought to the School of Management, he has also been focusing on the importance of the local community.
"I really think that it is important that if students are going to go into business, they ought to recognize that they should give back to the community," Thomas said.
Thomas has established a new office in his school for corporate and community relations. It encourages the students in the School of Management to get involved with public service projects.
"Companies are going to expect their junior managers to get involved in the community," Thomas said.
Thomas also said that as dean, he encourages the faculty to do community service; he believes that a person is truly successful when they give back to their community.
Thomas said he is proud of how the business community in Buffalo has stepped up to help out. At the same time, Thomas wants to encourage students to take advantage of international opportunities.
"Any young person thinking of going into business should get an international experience," Thomas said. "The world is becoming smaller. Students are going to have to be ready to be involved in the world."
Although Thomas has an incredible list of achievements and his School of Management is internationally recognized, he still believes it is his duty as dean to continue to find ways to become more successful.
"The dean has to be somebody that tries to mobilize the faculty, create innovation and to keep trying to make the programs better," Thomas said.
