Ron Gist
The Daniels College of Business community is mourning the death of former acting dean and longtime faculty member Ron Gist. The highly respected businessman and decorated academic died in October at the age of 94.
Gist served the University of Denver for 30 years, arriving in 1969 as the Beaumont Professor of Business Administration. He specialized in the subjects of marketing and marketing management, served as associate dean and created the Executive MBA program in 1976. The College of Business Administration, as Daniels was then known, appointed him acting dean from 1979-1980.
“Ron was a man in motion, always on his way to one appointment or another,” said Mac Clouse, the Sorenson Distinguished Professor of Finance. “A five-minute conversation with him was rare, which was not a negative! He was a leader and a man of many accomplishments. He created our EMBA at a time when this program was rare, and he directed and taught in it for many years; it was his passion.”
Over the course of his career, Gist authored at least 11 books on marketing and social responsibility, three of which were translated into different languages. Corporations, other universities and even the U.S. government hired him as a researcher and consultant.
His resume outlined his work with clients from all sectors and of all sizes, including IBM, Sears, Adolph Coors Company, Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, Denver’s Regional Transportation District and Veldkamp’s Flowers.
From 1976-1979, the U.S. Department of State sent him abroad to present his management programs in Saudi Arabia, Spain, Kenya, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Canada, as well as the former states of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.
The University of Denver honored Gist with its prestigious Distinguished Teaching Award in 1978 and the John D. Hershner Free Enterprise Award in 1985.
Former colleague Steve Hartley, a professor of marketing, remember Gist for his outstanding accomplishments and his relentless energy.
Ron Gist
“Ron came to visit us in approximately 2015 and we arranged for him to meet the dean,” Hartley recalled. “Before the meeting we warned the dean that Ron was unlikely to sit down. He was always moving! And, that is exactly what happened. They had a great conversation and then Ron moved on to the next meeting.”
Before arriving at DU, Gist taught at the University of Missouri, University of Southern California, Oregon State University and the University of Nebraska. He graduated from the University of Missouri with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration in 1958 and 1959, respectively. He earned a PhD from the University of Illinois in 1964.
Outside of the office, Gist was passionate about his hobbies: collector cars, a remote control airplane and, perhaps most of all, boating.
While vacationing in Lake Powell, Clouse met up with Gist, who showed him the cabin cruiser boat he had built in his backyard.
“It was exactly what you would expect from Ron,” Clouse remembered. “White shag carpet, golden faucets and excellent workmanship throughout. He spent many hours on the boat grading, writing and relaxing.”