CELEBRATING 100 YEARS
The Evolution of Business, Accounting, and Economics
As one of the largest departments at Otterbein University, the Department of Business, Accounting, and Economics (BAE) has a rich history that spans over a century.
The first mention of a business-related department at Otterbein was in 1864, but it wasn’t until 1924 that the Department of Business Administration was established, initially focusing on business fundamentals. Since 1930, the department has undergone a significant evolution with a greater emphasis on economics. Under the leadership of Professor Horace W. Troop, Class of 1923, who served as chair from 1924-1952, the department’s name was changed to the Department of Economics and Business Administration in 1938, reflecting its expanding scope.
100 YEARS OF CHAIRS
Dr. Harance Troop
1924-1952
Dr. Ralston Scott
1952-1958
Dr. Bert Glaze
1958-1962
Dr. Stanley Hart
1963-1967
Dr. Young Whe Koo
1969-1978, 1985-1989
Dr. Gail Miller
1979-1984
Dr. Gerald Brown
1990-1994
Dr. Kamel Abdullah
1993-1997
Dr. Allen Prindle
1997-2000
Dr. Charles G. Smith
2000-2008
Dr. Don Eskew
2009-2016, & 2019-2023
Dr. Michael Levin
2017-2019
Steve Osborne
2023-current
100 Years
1924
The Board of Trustees approved the establishment of the Department of Business Administration under the first Department Chair, Horace W. Troop, class of 1923.
1963
Chair Ralston D. Scott (1952- 1958) introduced courses in typing, shorthand, and commercial subjects when the department was housed in Towers Hall.
1969
BAE Society of Advanced Management
1993 
BAE moved to Roush Hall in 1993.
1998
The MBA program earned accreditation in 1998.
2013
With the transition from quarters to semesters and the shift from business concentrations to majors, BAE continued its curriculum innovations. New majors and courses enhanced its interdisciplinary interactions with mathematics and computer science programs.
The department briefly merged with business education from 1952-1961, when it changed course under the leadership of Bert Glaze and became a pioneer among liberal arts colleges by revising its curriculum to include more mathematics. A statistics laboratory was established in 1965. In 1990, Young Koo and Gerald Brown led the work to rename it the Department of Business, Accounting, and Economics.
The curriculum has continued to evolve to meet the demands of an ever-changing business world, expanding across disciplines such as accounting, business administration and management, business analytics, economics, finance, and marketing.
Today, the BAE department remains a cornerstone of Otterbein’s academic landscape. Committed to its legacy of innovation and academic rigor, it continues to shape the future of business education and nurture the next generation of entrepreneurs and business professionals as it enters its second century.
For a look back at a century of memories and photos, visit www.otterbein.edu/business-accounting-economics/100th-anniversary-history/
Department faculty and staff 2024 (L-R): Kyriacos Aristotelous, Allison de Nijs ’96, Kristina Medvedeva, Don Eskew, Brian Weikel, Yiyuan (Ava) Liu, Maria Tarbell, Brian Day, Hyuk Kim, Sergei Chuikov, Takeshi (Mike) Tsuyuguchi, David Riepenhoff ’99, Stephen Osborne