Photo by: daniels.du.edu
What do the world speed record for an around-the-world flight by a corporate jet, the National Basketball championships of 1987 and 1988, the foundation of CableVision and the official residence of the mayor of Denver all have in common with Daniels College of Business?
They are all part of the legacy Bill Daniels left behind.
As the centennial celebration of the business school draws near this year, it is important to remember that Daniels transformed not only DU’s business school but also the look of the campus.
Bill Daniels led an extraordinarily diverse life. He was a cable television pioneer, a businessman who convinced Wall Street to respect cable companies and the technology they were developing and a philanthropist who funded projects ranging from a savings bank for teenagers to a building at DU.
Ultimately, he challenged DU to update the graduate business curriculum and become the first business school in the nation to require business majors to take a course in business ethics.
Many students who attend classes in the six-story building on the corner of South University Boulevard and East Evans Avenue have learned about Daniels from a permanent exhibit in the Commons Room.
What the exhibit shows is what a diverse life Daniels led. Daniels was a decorated sailor and pilot in World War II. When he returned home, he soon recognized the innovation of cable television and became one of the industry’s pioneers as television became a household staple in the 1950s. He made a fortune, which enabled him to buy two basketball teams, the American Basketball Association’s Utah Stars and the Los Angeles Lakers. Both teams won championships while he owned them. He ran for Colorado governor in 1972. Later his corporate jet, Cablevision Tool, set the world speed record for an around-the-world flight by a corporate jet. In 1990 and 1991, Daniels funded the Gran Prix races to showcase Denver as a business center. Finally, three years before his death in 2000, Daniels donated his home, Cableland, to the city of Denver for use as the official residence of the mayor of the city.
It was this same man who decided to challenge the business school at the DU in 1989 to “create a program that would not only provide students high-quality professional skills, but would integrate the development of characteristics and abilities necessary for successful leadership,” according to the business school’s Web site. Teamwork and the use of case studies were introduced as vital components of the new graduate program.
Five years later, in 1994, the business school’s faculty unanimously voted to change the name of the school from the School of Commerce, Accounts and Finance to Daniels College of Business in recognition of Daniels’ support of the business school.
His legacy continues today. The Daniels Fund has awarded over $140 million in grants and scholarships to students since 2000. Just last year, the business school created Daniels Compass to enhance the values-based leadership and focus on corporate social responsibility. According to Daniels College Web site, the Compass is “an innovative curriculum within a curriculum that teaches ethical decision-making, leadership, and collaborative skills.”
