Former dean Arthur Warga was respected for the changes he enacted in the business school over the past ten years. | Courtesy of C.T. Bauer College of Business
The C.T. Bauer College of Business is starting the school year remembering Arthur Warga, former dean and visionary of the Bauer Honors Program, who died Aug. 7 after fighting brain cancer for five years. He was 58.
Warga worked as dean of Bauer from 2001 to March 2011, continuing to serve as dean throughout most of his fight with cancer.
Latha Ramchand, interim dean of Bauer, said Warga was someone who “drove the college towards excellence. “
Warga laid sturdy foundations for programs such as nationally recognized research initiatives, ranked entrepreneurship and undergraduate programs and the Bauer Honors Program.
“Warga left many good works behind him, but I think his most important legacy is the Bauer Honors Program,” said Everette S. Gardner, Jr., whom Warga appointed as Director of the Bauer Honors Program. Warga tasked him with the responsibility of developing curriculum for the college.
Although students can get an honors degree in any major, most disciplines have few courses available with honors sections. But with more than a dozen courses listed in the Honors course book for this fall, the Bauer Honors Program offers the most honors courses on campus and more business honors courses than any other program in the country.
“Warga told me that he wanted the best Honors Program, not just on this campus, but in the nation,” Everette said. “Our curriculum lets me make this promise to Honors recruits: you will never see a big auditorium-sized class in the Bauer College. This was one of Arthur’s specific goals when we launched the new program.”
From his tremendous presence and contributions, Warga’s death has caused a great sense of loss, especially since his medical leave was expected to be temporary.
In March, Provost John Antel informed the public that it was anticipated that Warga would return in the fall as a chaired full professor of finance.
When Warga stepped down from his role as dean, plans were to appoint the interim dean, wait a year and then consider searching for a replacement. Since his death, no change has been announced.
“I’ve always said he was certainly a colleague, a dean, my boss, a mentor, in the truest sense of the term, but in many ways he was like an older sibling to me,” said Ramchand.
“I learned so much just working with him. He was just an amazing man.”
