Graduate School of Management Records of the Dean, John A. Barr

This series, filling eleven boxes, contains the records of John A. Barr, dean of the Graduate School of Management, 1963-1975. The categories of school administrative materials include: general correspondence, school committees, the Management Assistance Clinic, the Hospital and Health Services Administration program accreditation review, Northwestern's cofounding and development of the Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administracion (The Venezuelan Institute of Advanced Studies of Administration [IESA]), and miscellaneous subject files.

Barr's extra-university endeavors documented in the series include his membership on the U. S. President's Advisory Council on Minority Business Enterprise, and his chairmanship of the U. S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare's Advisory Committee on Hospital Effectiveness.

The general correspondence files span the years 1963-1975. The files consist mainly of carbon copies of Barr's letters.

The school committee files contain reports, minutes, and correspondence detailing the activities of various committees Barr was associated with during 1966-1972.

The third section relates to the 1972-73 Hospital and Health Services Administration program accreditation review. Reports are present from the North Central Association Accrediting Commission on Graduate Education for Hospital Administration, as well as faculty vitae, a standard survey questionnaire for graduate programs, and required course syllabi.

In 1967 the School of Business, along with the Ford Foundation and a group of Venezuelan businessmen, developed a graduate school in business and public administration scheduled to open in Caracas, Venezuela in the Fall of 1968. The school was named “Instituto De Estudios Superiores De Administracion,” or IESA (translated means the Institute of Advanced Studies of Administration). The School of Business established an advisory committee consisting of top management school faculty from across the United States. The committee was charged with producing and overseeing a five year plan, developing the IESA's faculty and educational programs. The Ford Foundation awarded the IESA a $50,000 grant, while the Venezuelan businessmen, led by oil man Dr. Carlos Lander, provided $3.5 million for the IESA's housing and faculty.

The School of Business/Graduate School of Management records pertaining to the IESA consists of advisory committee reports to the Ford Foundation, committee minutes, correspondence and related materials.

The Management Assistance Clinic (MAC), located on the Chicago campus, provided legal aid and management training to minorities seeking to establish private and community-owned businesses and organizations. The MAC also served as a research center where faculty and graduate students studied urban economic development and participated in its everyday management by providing management consultation services to the minority-owned urban businesses. Opening in 1970, the MAC received grants from the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Wieboldt Foundation. By 1972 the grants expired and the Graduate School of Management decided to internally support the MAC.

The Management Assistance Clinic materials consist of correspondence, reports, and proposals. The files span the years 1969-1973.

The subject files include materials relating to Northwestern University Evening Division, GSM student recruiting activities, and Black Pride, Inc., a company creating black-owned businesses in urban neighborhoods. The subject files consist of reports, notes, correspondence and related materials.

The extra-university materials include correspondence, reports and related items pertaining to Barr's membership on the U. S. President's Advisory Council on Minority Business Enterprise (1975). Barr also chaired the U. S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare's Advisory Committee on Hospital Effectiveness (1967-68). Records relating to the Advisory Committee include final report drafts, position papers, correspondence and related materials.