Eberhardt School of Business

Business courses have been offered at University of the Pacific for most of its 160-year history. In 1977, the business program was recognized as a separate school and named the School of Business and Public Administration (SBPA). It was the first new professional school established at Pacific since 1955.

In 1982, SBPA moved into Weber Hall. One of the first buildings constructed when the campus was moved from San Jose to Stockton in 1924, it was named for Captain Charles Weber, founder of the City of Stockton. In 1984, the school was first accredited by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business. With the arrival of a business school, an intensive fundraising campaign was launched to completely refurbish the building. This project, completed in 1989, along with continued upgrades and renovation since then, has resulted in modern classrooms and offices, a computer laboratory, and executive development facilities that provide an environment conducive to business learning and research.

The SBPA expanded its outreach to the community with the establishment of a Center for Management Development in 1989. In September 1991, the center was officially named the Westgate Center for Management Development, in recognition of financial support from Edward W. Westgate, a former member of Pacific's Board of Regents.

In 1993, the SBPA first began offering the Master of Business Administration, and developed an accelerated five-year BS/MBA program. The SBPA was renamed the Eberhardt School of Business in 1995 in recognition of the generous and substantial support given to both the School and the University by the Eberhardt family.

The SBPA was renamed the Eberhardt School of Business in 1995 in recognition of the generous and substantial support given to both the School and the University by the Eberhardt Family. Robert M. Eberhardt (a 1950 business alumnus) succeeded his father as President of the Bank of Stockton and Chair of the Board of Regents. After his unexpected death in 1993, his wife, Mimi Eberhardt, assumed his position as a regent, while his brother, Douglass, business class of '59, became President of the Bank of Stockton. Douglass Eberhardt subsequently became a regent of Pacific. Six members of the Eberhardt family have received degrees from the University and numerous employees of the Bank of Stockton and their families are Pacific alumni.

The Eberhardt School has established innovative programs in entrepreneurship and received more than $2.6 million in grants from the Fletcher Jones, General Mills and Coca-Cola foundations and a major anonymous donor. A suite housing the offices for the Center for Entrepreneurship was constructed in Weber Hall utilizing funds donated in memory of Greenlaw Grupe, Sr. This center houses the Institute for Family Business, an Invention Evaluation Service and the Real Estate Institute.

From 2003 to 2005, the newly-established Business Forecasting Center received $1.4 million in federal grants to support its services. The Center provides quarterly reports on current business activity, forecasts future economic trends, and performs research and consulting services for public and private sector organizations. The Center is enhancing the scope of its activities to play a vital role in the region's economic development.

As part of the University's $330 million comprehensive fundraising campaign, "Investing in Excellence," which closed in 2007, the Eberhardt School of Business raised more than $16 million to advance its academic programs, renovate and upgrade facilities, and fund student scholarships. The Student Investment Fund was established in 2007 thanks to a $1 million gift from the Bank of Stockton and its president and CEO Douglass M. Eberhardt. Noting the successes of the fund, Pacific's Board of Regents invested an additional $1,000,000. The completely student-managed fund provides an invaluable learning experience for students, and a portion of the fund's earnings support designated University programs. The current value of the fund exceeds $2.3 million which is in the top 3 in the West. Among more than 12,600 business schools worldwide, the Eberhardt School of Business is one of only 200 to offer a student-managed investment fund.

Gaining distinction through its popular Pacific Business Forum, the Eberhardt School of Business brings prominent business and government leaders to campus several times each year. Participants have included Masaaki Morita, a member of the founding family and retired CEO of Sony; Richard Rosenberg, former chairman and CEO of BankAmerica Corp.; John Chambers, chairman and CEO of Cisco Systems, Inc. and regent of University of the Pacific; and Walter Robb, co-president and COO of Whole Foods Market, Inc., also a Pacific regent.

The Eberhardt School of Business launched its new 16-month MBA program in the 2007-08 academic year and marked its 30th anniversary as a professional school at Pacific. Continually guided by its mission and informed by best practices, the Eberhardt School develops knowledgeable, innovative business leaders in a personalized, experience-based learning environment and producing scholarship that contributes to disciplinary knowledge, informs teaching, and advances the practice of business.