A Letter from One of the Pioneers in Education for Management: Sir William Ashley's Work in the University of Birmingham

Abstract

IT has been rightly observed 1 that a great impetus was given to education for management after 1945. The need for the expansion of facilities was recognized by government, central and local, by educational institutions and by industry. In consequence, there has been a series of developments characterized by a diversity of approach which is likely to prove rewarding, if at times it appears confusing to the observer. As the developments now proceed along their varied courses, it is appropriate to recall the initial work done in giving form and content to the conception of higher education for the potential managers of industry and commerce. Among the many pioneers, a distinguished place must be given to William Ashley and a letter written by him, recently discovered, reveals in an unusually personal way the principles which guided him in creating the course of studies leading to the degree of Bachelor of Commerce. The University of Birmingham was founded in I900, a fitting outcome of the exertions of Joseph Chamberlain in persuading his fellow citizens of the need for an institution of higher learning in the industrial community in which they lived. His conception of a close relationship between the University and its immediate environment was nowhere better expressed than in his insistence upon the inclusion of a Faculty of Commerce. Thus it was that the University of Birmingham began the provision of higher education for business management; in the English-speaking world it was preceded only by the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce in Philadelphia and the College of Commerce of the University of California. The idea of university education for commerce was one thing; to translate this into precise academic terms was another. Chamberlain persuaded W. J. Ashley, Professor of Economic History at Harvard, to undertake the task and he became the first Professor of Commerce and Finance and Dean of the Faculty.