Shils Term Chair in Entrepreneurial Management
Wharton Dean Patrick Harker announced recently that Dr. Edward B. Shils, the George W. Taylor Professor Emeritus of Entrepreneurial Studies, and his wife, Shirley, are funding a Term Professorship in the Wharton School. The professorship is to be the Edward B. Shils and Shirley R. Shils Term Professorship in Entrepreneurial Management. This was an unusual gift on the part of a professor still teaching at Wharton. The Shils family has already created a professorship at the Law School in Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution.
Not only has Dr. Shils been teaching steadily in the Wharton School since 1955, but also his teaching has been supplemented over the years by numerous administrative assignments. He was co-chair of the Industry Department with Dr. George Taylor from 1960 to 1963, and Chairman of the Management Department from 1968 to 1976. Dr. Shils founded the Wharton Entrepreneurial Center (now Sol C. Snider) in 1973, and the teaching program was the first of its kind in the world. He was Director of the Center from 1973 to 1986.
Dr. Shils may hold the record for the most earned Penn degrees. After graduating from Wharton in 1936, he took his M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science in 1937 and 1940 respectively. In 1986, he received a J.D. degree from the Law School; an L.L.M. in 1990; and his S.J.D. in 1997. He also is responsible for the annual Shils Lecture Series in Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution that features prominent jurists, negotiators and mediators and is sponsored by the Law School. Dr. Shils also served as judicial administrator at Penn from 1986 to 1989.
Mrs. Shils is also a Penn alumnae having received a B.A. in Religious Studies and Mideast Politics and an M.S. in Social Gerontology.
Almanac, Vol. 47, No. 34, May 15, 2001