As an extraordinarily effective and inspirational executive, B. Charles “Chuck” Ames has used his leadership position and vast knowledge to help educate and assist the next generation of management leaders as a mentor, collaborator, author and philanthropist.
On Friday, May 9, Case Western Reserve University Weatherhead School of Management will honor Ames’ long-standing commitment to its students and contributions to the school in a chairing ceremony for Professor N. Mohan Reddy, the inaugural chair of the B. Charles Ames Professorship in Management.
The $3.6 million endowed chair was created with a $2 million gift from The Ames Family Foundation Trustees and tribute gifts from many of his friends and former colleagues.
“By creating this professorship, we hope to highlight our father’s long involvement and commitment to global business education and the Weatherhead School of Management,” said Ames’ daughter Cindy Ames Huffman, speaking on behalf of her family. “We are delighted by the appointment of our dear friend Mohan Reddy, whose teaching and service to students and to the business community is exceptional. As our father once said, ‘A quality faculty attracts a quality student; it’s a cycle in which you have to have quality on both sides of the spectrum.’”
Joe Rice, principal at Clayton, Dubilier & Rice LLC and Ames’ good friend, made a $1 million gift toward establishing the professorship on the company’s behalf.
Ames, the retired vice chairman of CD&R in New York, was previously chairman and CEO of Reliance Electric Co., CEO of Acme Cleveland Corp., chairman and CEO of the Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Co. and a director and managing partner in the Cleveland offices of McKinsey & Co.
His legacy in business management leadership and education is extensive. He served on numerous corporate boards and has co-authored several management books, including, Market-Driven Management: Creating Profitable Top-line Growth and Profitable Top-Line Growth for Industrial Companies.
Ames, who served as the first chair of the Weatherhead School’s visiting committee, has had a long and profound impact on Case Western Reserve, from mentoring students to creating the Ames Business Plan Competition in 2008.
His nearly $6 million in contributions to date includes a recent significant gift to provide scholarships for the management school’s Global MBA program for American students to study abroad in China and India as part of its three-country partnership.
He also honored his friend and former Weatherhead School dean, the late Ted Alfred, with leadership gifts to support the Theodore and Catherine Alfred Endowed Professorship of Management.
“We are so grateful and honored to have a chaired professorship named for Chuck Ames recognizing the wonderful impact it will make on our students, relationships with the business community and our standing as an institution,” said Weatherhead School Dean Robert Widing, the Albert J. Weatherhead III Professor of Management.
An endowed chair is among the highest honors a faculty member can receive. Endowed chairs ensure an institution’s ability to attract and retain high-caliber professors by dedicating valuable resources to the position. Students, in turn, benefit by learning from top scholars in the field.
The Ames Professorship is held by Reddy, a professor in the Department of Design & Innovation who joined the Weatherhead faculty in 1985 after earning an MBA and PhD from the school. He served as dean of the Weatherhead School from 2006 to 2012, and received the school’s teaching excellence award six times. He also has received the David Bowers’ Alumni Service Award and the Theodore M. Alfred Distinguished Service Award.
“He was a tremendous dean and continues to be an inspiring and talented teacher, leader and colleague,” Widing said. “I can think of no one who is better suited, or more deserving, than Mohan Reddy to serve as the inaugural B. Charles Ames Professor of Management.”