Paul Portney New Eller dean

Washington research firm president to make $400,000 plus perks

After 15 months of searching, the UA announced yesterday they have appointed its new dean of the Eller College of Management, who will take over the position in July.

The new dean, Paul Portney, will replace former Dean Mark Zupan and take over for Kenneth R. Smith, who has served as interim dean for the last year.

Portney is president of Resources for the Future, an independent and non-partisan research and educational organization in Washington, D.C., that specializes in natural resources and the environment.

This summer, Portney will leave the RFF to begin his career at the UA, a move he is excited to make.

"It's a wonderful opportunity," Portney said.

Portney has been promised a $400,000 annual salary. Of that, $260,000 will be paid by the university and the rest is to be paid for through private donations from the Eller College National Board of Advisors, a board of 82 executives and business leaders from across the country, some of whom are Eller graduates, said Julie Krell, marketing and communications director for Eller College.

On top of his salary, Portney will also receive a $30,000 housing allowance and a $6,500 automobile allowance, Krell said.

Portney said he wanted to go to a first-rate university with a business school that aspires to improve.

"Eller is very ambitious, and I like that," he said.

Portney said he wanted to be at a place where he can use his expertise to address real-world problems. He said he is looking forward to working closely with various groups throughout the university.

"I feel so fortunate to have this opportunity. It took something very, very special for me to leave here and I think this deanship offers me that special opportunity for which I was looking," Portney said.

Faculty and administration are pleased to welcome him and are excited about the new leadership planned for Eller College.

"I'm delighted about the appointment," said Smith.

Smith said with Portney's experience, he expects the new dean will build on the college's strengths and take it to the next level. It will continue to enhance its innovations in the fields of business, management and technology.

Portney, who joined the RFF in 1972, has since headed two of the organization's research divisions. In 1989 he became company vice president, and in 1995 he was named president of RFF.

Portney holds a Ph.D. in economics from Northwestern University in Illinois and has taught at some of the country's major universities, including the Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.

From 1979 to 1980, Portney worked for the Council on Environmental Quality at the White House, where he advised President Carter and members of his administration on environmental and natural resource issues.

Professor Mark Walker, chairman of the economics department, is also pleased with the decision because of Portney's extensive background in research.

"Paul has been great at generating support for the research that people do at RFF," he said.

Walker said Portney has a particular ability to convey to the public the nature and importance of research, which Walker said will serve Portney well as dean.

"It took a long time, but everyone's thrilled with the guy we got," Walker said.