|
IN MEMORIAM
JANICE M. BEYER
Janice M. Beyer, professor of management at The
University of Texas at Austin, passed away on June 20, 2001, in
Austin, at age 67. Professor Beyer was a distinguished scholar
who held the Harkins & Company Centennial Chair in Business Administration
in the McCombs School of Business. Prior to joining the faculty
at the University, she taught at New York University, Cornell
University, and the State University of New York at Buffalo. She
is survived by her brother, Warren Beyer of Milwaukee, Wisconsin;
her daughters, Claire Lodahl of Durango, Colorado, and Andrea
Henneman of Princeton, New Jersey; and six grandchildren.
Professor Beyer joined the management faculty in 1988, where she specialized
in organizational behavior. In 1992, she began a joint appointment with
the Department of Sociology. During her academic career, she had more
than 100 publications. She served on the editorial boards of the leading
publications in management science, including the Academy of Management
Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, Advances in Qualitative Organizational
Research, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Quality Management, and Journal
of World Business. She was also coeditor of the Journal of Socio-Economics.
Professor Beyer had an international reputation as a scholar and researcher.
She served as president for the Academy of Management (1990-1991), and,
between 1985 and 1987, as editor of the Academy's prestigious Academy
of Management Journal. During that time she made her greatest contribution
to the discipline. As editor, she was responsible for the direction of
the journal, increasing the overall quality of manuscripts, marketing
the journal, and making it competitive with other quality journals in
the discipline. In an article by T. A. Mahoney in 1997 that appeared
in the Academy of Management Journal (AMJ) (40:1432) entitled, "Reflections
Upon a State in the Maturation of AMJ and the AOM," Mahoney
wrote, "Jan' s influence on the Academy of Management Journal was
profound, not only as a result of the innovations she introduced, but
also as a consequence of the example she set for the editors who followed
her. AMJ has grown in scholarly stature to become one of the most
highly respected publication outlets in management."
Professor Beyer placed scholarship at the very center of her life, and
her membership in organizations stands as an indicator of her national
reputation. She was a member of Phi Kappa Phi (National Honorary Society)
and Beta Gamma Sigma (National Honorary Society in Business). As a graduate
student, her paper won the "Best Student Paper" award at a
meeting of the Eastern Academy of Management. She was an elected Fellow
of the Academy of Management and a member of Who' s Who in Management
Sciences.
Her scholarship centered on the study of organizations. Her book with
Harrison M. Trice, The Cultures of Work Organizations, makes a
great contribution to that field of study. When she died, she had three
papers under review that concentrated on decision-making and experiences
within work organizations. Because of scholarship, she produced PhD students
who will carry on her intense intellectual curiosity and her strong tradition
of developing and testing theories—the activities that are at the
core of the research academy.
<signed>
Larry R. Faulkner, President
The University of Texas at Austin
<signed>
John R. Durbin, Secretary
The General Faculty
This memorial resolution was prepared by a special
committee consisting of Professors John Sibley Butler (chair),
George Huber, and Victor Arnold.
|
