Hutt and Richards gain new positions

Officials with the Morrison School of Management and Agribusiness have announced the promotion of associate professor Roger Hutt to assistant dean for undergraduate programs, and the appointment of Timothy Richards as the Morrison chair.

Hutt’s new focus will be to assist Morrison School faculty with planning new undergraduate curriculum that is designed to increase enrollment in the school’s programs. Hutt also will manage the execution of undergraduate recruiting and retention pursuits with George Seperich, the Morrison School’s associate dean.

Hutt also will administer undergraduate course scheduling and faculty assignments.

“The Morrison School of Management and Agribusiness has benefited greatly from the leadership Dr. Roger Hutt has provided,” says Paul Patterson the Morrison School’s dean. “I am certain he will be very effective in helping lead the Morrison School as we work together to increase enrollment, improve student retention, expand research productivity and enhance academic stature.”

After receiving his bachelor’s degree in business administration and master’s in business administration from Ohio State, and his doctoral degree from Michigan State, Hutt instructed classes in marketing and business administration in Ohio. He joined ASU as an assistant professor in 1975 and was promoted to associate professor in 1979. Throughout his time with ASU, Hutt has taught management, entrepreneurship and business administration classes on the Tempe, West and Polytechnic campuses.

Over the span of his career, Hutt has written and co-written textbooks, articles and papers on related topics including entrepreneurship, small-business management and business education. He is a member of the Academy of Management, Beta Gamma Sigma, and the UnitedStates Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

He will continue to instruct classes for the Morrison School while taking on his new role.

Richards, the inaugural recipient of the Morrison chair, also was honored as the Morrison School of Management and Agribusiness Power Professor earlier in his career.

“Dr. Richards is a seven-time winner of an outstanding journal article award, an unheard-of achievement for someone so early in his career,” Patterson says.

Richards’ areas of interest and research include applied industrial organization, consumer demand estimation and derivative pricing. He teaches courses in agribusiness finance, financial management, microeconomics, and risk management and insurance.

The Morrison chair position was made possible by a donation of Gilbert farmland from Marvin and June Morrison in 1998. This gift allowed ASU to establish the endowed professorship, the Marvin and June Morrison Scholarship, and to support research and agribusiness programs. The gift augments the chair’s salary, research, travel and conference fees, as well as other funds required for the position.

Richards received his bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of British Columbia, and his master’s and doctoral degrees from Stanford University. His career with ASU began in 1994, when he left the University of Alberta to join the ASU faculty.

In 2001, Richards was named Power Professor of Agribusiness; in 2005, he received full professorship.

Of Richards’ newest distinction, Patterson says, “Dr. Richards is one who has a profound appreciation of the responsibilities that come with the honor of a chair, and I expect that he will provide tremendous faculty leadership.”

Stephanie Patterson,
stephanie.patterson@asu.edu