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A Guide to his papers at the Indiana University Archives

Finding aid prepared by Ashley Large.

Summary Information

Repository
Indiana University Office of University Archives and Records Management
1320 East Tenth Street
Herman B Wells Library E460
Bloomington, IN 47405-7000
Phone: 812-855-1127
Fax: 812-855-8104
Email: archives@indiana.edu
http://www.libraries.iub.edu/archives

Creator
Otteson, Schuyler F. (Schuyler Franklin), 1917-

Collection No.
C290

Extent
5 cubic feet (5 boxes)

Language
Materials are in English

Abstract
Schuyler F. Otteson served as Dean of the School of Business from 1971 to 1982 and as assistant professor and professor of marketing from 1946 to 1971. During his career, Otteson was involved in many committees and organizations both within and outside of the University, including the American Marketing Association, Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), and Council for Professional Education for Business (CPEB). This collection consists of correspondence, research files, teaching files, conference materials, writings, and service files.

Access Restrictions

Select files closed to researchers. These are indicated in the folder list.

Biographical Note

Schuyler Franklin Otteson ("Ott" to his friends) was born on July 17, 1917, in Modena, Wisconsin. His father owned a country store in which Otteson frequently worked as a child and young adult and to which he attributed his interest in business and marketing. Otteson pursued this interest with business degrees from the University of Wisconsin and Northwestern University. After his graduation from Northwestern, he gained employment with the Fair Store in Chicago and with Montgomery Ward and Company as an assistant buyer. From 1943-1948, Otteson pursued a Ph.D. at The Ohio State University. During this time, he served on the faculty of Ohio Wesleyan University until he came to Indiana University in 1946 as an assistant professor of marketing. Otteson completed his Ph.D. in 1948 and was named a professor of marketing in 1952.

From 1952 until 1971, when he became Dean of the School of Business, Otteson maintained an extremely busy calendar. He served as Director of the Bureau of Business Research (now the Indiana Business Research Center) from 1954 to 1960 and during that time, also became the founding editor of Business Horizons, a scholarly journal. As Director of the Bureau of Business Research, Otteson did much to make the Bureau an indispensable entity in the school and the state. In 1955, he edited a 14-volume study for the Office of the Governor entitled "Indiana’s Economic Resources and Potential" which influenced state economic policy into the 1960s. Otteson was also named Sagamore of the Wabash, a high honor to citizens of Indiana, in 1956.

Despite the heavy responsibilities at the Bureau and teaching, Otteson also continued his service to the University during these years. In 1960, he was appointed chair of the Marketing Department and then chair of the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) program in 1965. He was active in administering the International Business Research Institute, which brought his international interests home to Indiana. In addition, he served on many University and School of Business committees, evidence of which can be found in his personal files. For example, Otteson was the secretary of the Faculty Council from 1970 to 1971, president of the Bloomington Chapter of the American Association of University Professors, and a member of the IU Athletics Committee.

Always involved, Otteson also served (with prestige) as the national president of the American Marketing Association from 1965-1966. He was a member of the executive committee of the U.S. Department of Commerce National Marketing Advisory Committee during the latter half of the 1960s. From 1966-1968, Otteson was secretary and member of the executive committee of the International Marketing Federation. In addition, Otteson served on the Board of Governors of Beta Gamma Sigma (national business honorary society), was a co-founder of the Midwest Business Administration Association, and was president of the Indiana Academy of the Social Sciences in 1969.

In 1971, Otteson was appointed Dean of the School of Business after Dean George Pinnell became vice president of the University. During Otteson’s tenure as the sixth dean, the School of Business experienced a period of tremendous growth. When Otteson retired in December of 1982, the school had grown to include many more women and minorities, was routinely sending students to study abroad, and had gained the respect of the nation and world as a place to learn business administration.

Schuyler F. Otteson passed away at the Meadowood Retirement Community in Bloomington, Indiana, on February 5, 2001, at the age of 83. He was survived by his wife, Marie, and their four children, Judy, Marty, Karn, and John.

Arrangement

This collection is organized into six series: Organizations and committees; Indiana University; Research and writing; Papers and talks; Conferences, Workshops, and Seminars; and Subject files. No original order existed for these files, and they have been organized to best highlight Otteson’s activities.

Scope and Content Note

The Schuyler F. Otteson papers are organized into six series: Organizations and committees; Indiana University; Research and writing; Papers and talks; Conferences, Workshops, and Seminars; and Subject files. Because the papers had no discernable original order, they have been arranged to best highlight Otteson’s activities.

The first series, Organizations and committees, which spans the period from 1954-1971, encompasses all those organizations in which Otteson was involved that were not associated with Indiana University. This series is then divided into five subseries: American Marketing Association, Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), Council for Professional Education for Business (CPEB), the U.S. Department of Commerce National Marketing Advisory Committee, and General. The first sub-series, American Marketing Association, spans the years 1954 to 1971 and pertains to Otteson’s participation in this organization, both as a member and as national president (1965-1966). Document types include correspondence, minutes, conference proceedings, and trip plans. Traveling and speaking at various AMA chapters constituted much of Otteson’s activity during this period. The second sub-series, Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), spans the years 1963-1969, and contains general information on the CIC, correspondence from other schools, and bulletins and class lists, also from other institutions. The CIC, at the time, was comprised of many of the Big Ten universities and was dedicated to sharing educational information and resources for the common good of all members. The third sub-series, Council for Professional Education for Business (CPEB), spans the years 1966-1970, and covers Otteson’s involvement in this group, especially on the executive committee and long-range planning committee. The bulk of this material pertains to CPEB’s effort to define its identity in relation to its fellow group, the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business. The fourth sub-series, the U.S. Department of Commerce National Marketing Advisory Committee, spans the years 1966-1969, and includes conference proceedings, general files, and meeting minutes. Otteson served on the executive committee of this group during this time. This group met yearly to discuss ways for the Department of Commerce to best market itself to consumers, as well as how the Department should understand consumer trends.

The second series in this collection contains all those materials relating to Indiana University and Schuyler Otteseon’s tenure as a member of the faculty. Spanning the period from 1962-1970, this series consists of three subseries. The first, International Business Research Institute (IBRI) (.2 cubic feet), spans the years 1966-1970. Otteson was one of the founding members of this organization, which sought to provide support, both academic and monetary, for international business projects. The second sub-series, Marketing chair records (.1 cubic feet), spans the years 1964-1965. Otteson served as chair of the Marketing Department from 1960 to 1965. These files encompass everything the Archives have received from Otteson’s tenure as chair of the department, and they include correspondence and administrative files. The third sub-series, Service, covers the period from 1962-1970, and includes materials pertaining to all the other various committees and programs with which Otteson was involved related to Indiana University. Teaching files, the fourth sub-series, covers the dates 1966-1969 and includes records relating to Otteson’s teaching career at Indiana University including lecture notes, transparencies, syllabi, and related clippings. The fifth sub-series, General, covers the period 1964-1970 and contains various other files pertaining to Otteson’s period at Indiana University. Prominent materials found in this sub-series include a report of Business Library Acquisitions from 1965-1970 and Business student job placement data from 1965-1966.

Research and writings, the third series, covers the period 1945-1970, and includes publications and research projects on which Otteson worked. Including in this series are records on Otteson’s books, Marketing: The Firm’s Viewpoint and New Dimensions in Marketing Technology ; a report from an investigation for the Civil Aeronautics Board in 1962, a preliminary draft of a paper titled "Doctoral study in Business - Problems and Contrasting Solutions," a report for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and materials relating to a survey which Otteson conducted of the Pace College library to determine the ability of the program to support a doctoral program in business.

The fourth series, Talks and papers, covering the dates 1962-1971, includes materials pertaining to presentations which Otteson gave both nationally and internationally, Prominent talks or papers in the series include a talk for the Istituto Post-Universitario per Lo Studio dell’Organizzazione Aziendale in Torino, Italy, in 1962, one for the Institute of Marketing Communications in 1966, and talks and papers from the Thomas N. Beckman Symposium on Marketing Productivity at the Ohio State University in 1965.

Conferences, workshops, and seminars, the fifth series, covers 1966-1970 and contains materials relating to several events which Otteson attended. Prominent materials found in this series include materials from a Faculty Development Seminar in Educational Media at Indiana University in 1967, and a seminar through the Marketing Science Institute in 1966 titled "Crisis in Marketing Manpower."

Finally, the sixth series, Subject files, covers the period 1938-1971. Some materials of interest in this series include curriculum vitae, correspondence, and class notes from three classes he took at the University of Wisconsin from 1943-45.

• Indexing Terms

• The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in IUCAT, the IU Libraries' online catalog. Materials about related topics, persons or places can be found by searching the catalog using these terms.

• • Names
  • Otteson, Schuyler F. (Schuyler Franklin), 1917- --Archives.
  • Otteson, Schuyler F. (Schuyler Franklin), 1917- --Correspondence.
  • Indiana University. School of Business --Faculty --Archives.
  • Indiana University. Dept. of Marketing --History --20th century --Sources.
  • American Marketing Association --History --20th century --Sources.
• • Topics
  • Marketing --Study and teaching (Higher) --Indiana --Bloomington.
  • Marketing research.
  • Business teachers --Indiana --Bloomington.

Separated Material

Duplicate publications pulled and sent to the Wells Library.

Several photographs have been removed from this collection and filed with the Indiana University Archives Photo Collection. All removed photographs have been replaced in this collection with photocopies.

Administrative Information