Distinguished Alumni Award

Jude West, 69PhD, is professor emeritus of the UIs Henry B. Tippie College of Business, where he is recognized as a superb teacher knowledgeable in all areas of organizational operations. For more than 40 years, he has also quietly assisted dozens of troubled university departments and units with his gift for mediation, counseling, crisis intervention, and negotiation.

Originally from Chicago, West received a B.A. degree in philosophy from the University of Saint Mary of the Lake in 1953 and an M.B.A. degree from the University of Chicago in 1961. After working briefly as the director of education for Motorola, West came to the UI in 1963 to serve as programdirector of the Bureau of Labor and Management in the College of Business and to pursue a Ph.D. degree in social foundation of education, which he completed in 1969. He has worked for and with the University of Iowa ever since.

As a professor, West is known for treating his students as colleagues, respecting their opinions while he helps them learn. In 1998, he was recognized by Business Week magazine as one of the six most popular M.B.A. professors at the UI, and he was invited to give the commencement address to B.B.A. graduates in 1994.

Because of his expertise in conflict management in the business setting, West has been called upon to serve as a campus mediator and has frequently helped resolve conflict issues within and among departments and units on campus. The contributions he has made to the university in this role, often in response to requests from UI presidents, are incalculable. West has clearly proven his integrity and trustworthiness—and earned the respect of many across the campus—as he has helped to bring these critical issues to resolution.

While West officially retired from teaching in 2001, he became co-director with president emeritus Willard Sandy Boyd of the Larned A. Waterman Iowa Nonprofit Resource Center in 2002. In that role, he has assisted the Endow Iowa program at the state level, taught short courses on nonprofit organizations throughout the state, and pioneered a very successful Nonprofit Organizational Effectiveness class—bringing together some 22 different faculty members to make it happen.

Wests work has been recognized with numerous awards and honors. He was named a Friend of Systems Unlimited for his long years of service to that organization; he received the Ruth Becker Award for Outstanding Contribution to The Arc of Johnson County; and he was given an Isabel Turner Award by the Iowa City Human Rights Commission. In 2000, he received the universitys Michael J. Brody Award for Faculty Excellence in Service; and in 1985, he earned a Hancher-Finkbine Medallion for learning, leadership, and loyalty from the UI.

As a highly respected and admired faculty member, whose dedicated decades of service have improved the lives of so many, Jude West richly deserves this award. Throughout his career, he has made countless friends for the university—in Iowa and beyond.

West is a member of the UI Alumni Associations Old Capitol Club.