Villanova University Celebrates the Inauguration of James M. Danko as The Helen and William O’Toole Dean

VILLANOVA, PA, 10 October 2007 – Members of the Villanova community gather today to celebrate the inauguration of James Danko as The Helen and William O’Toole Dean of the Villanova School of Business. The endowment was provided to the school by Terence M. O’Toole, VSB ’80, in honor of his parents, Helen and William O’Toole. It is designed to support a bold new vision for VSB: international recognition as a premier business school, built upon faculty and academic quality. With its ranking as the #12 undergraduate business school in the nation by BusinessWeek, the school is well on its way. In order to ensure a strong future, VSB must continue to attract the most talented students, faculty, and staff—and to provide them with exceptional opportunities, resources, and facilities.

Throughout his investment banking career, Terence O’Toole has distinguished himself as an exceptional business leader and philanthropist. He earned his VSB economics degree summa cum laude in 1980, and then earned his MBA from Stanford University, where he was named a Henry Ford II Scholar and graduated first in his class. Mr. O’Toole joined Goldman Sachs & Company in 1983 and retired in 2005. Mr. O’Toole currently serves as a Co-Managing Member of Tinicum Capital Partners II, LP.

In many ways, the lives of Helen and William O’Toole exemplify the American Dream. Mrs. O’Toole is a first-generation American of Italian descent. After graduating from high school, Mrs. O’Toole attended the School of Business Science in Worcester, Massachusetts. Mr. O’Toole, after serving in WWII, earned a BS in electrical engineering from Notre Dame, becoming the first college graduate in his family. He then enjoyed a long and successful career at DuPont.

James Danko was appointed dean of VSB in 2005. He has successfully led a collaborative faculty reorganization and a school-wide emphasis on creativity and innovation—both in its approach to education and scholarly research, as well as in its own operations. Over the past three years, undergraduate applications to the school have nearly doubled and student quality has reached unprecedented levels. Before joining Villanova, Dean Danko served in business school leadership roles at Dartmouth College, the University of Michigan, the University of Washington, Babson College, and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. He earned his bachelor’s degree in religious studies at John Carroll University, and his MBA at the University of Michigan. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Dean Danko spent the first 17 years of his career as a successful entrepreneur before beginning his work in academic leadership.
 

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Andrea Carter, Coordinator, Marketing & Public Relations
Villanova School of Business
Villanova University
800 Lancaster Avenue
Bartley Hall
610.519.6715
andrea.carter@villanova.edu