UpDate - Vol. 15, No. 22, Page 12
February 29, 1996
James Butkiewicz named economics chairperson

     James Butkiewicz has been appointed chairperson of the Department
of Economics, succeeding William Latham, who will return to the
faculty, as of September.
     Latham, who joined the Delaware faculty in 1971, has been
chairperson since 1990.
     A Fulbright professor in Korea in 1987-88, Latham has served as
an officer, trustee/and or director of several financial subsidiaries,
including Bethlehem Steel Credit Affiliate, Inc. and Great Lakes Fund,
Inc. He has published extensively in his field and has been a
economics consultant to several business firms and to the Commonwealth
of Puerto Rico.
     Butkiewicz has served as associate dean of the College of
Business and Economics for two terms.
     He first served from 1984-1988 as an associate dean. At that time
it was a rotating position among faculty members to give them
administrative experience.
     Later, he served as acting associate dean from February until
August 1991, when he was named associate dean of the college after a
yearlong, nationwide search.
     Working with dean Kenneth R. Biederman, Butkiewicz has had
responsibilities for the day-to-day operations of the college in such
areas as personnel, recruiting faculty and budgeting. He also has been
involved in helping to develop and implement long-range plans for the
college.
     Butkiewicz, who joined the University of Delaware faculty in
1976, said of his upcoming position that he is pleased to be returning
to his "home base."
     "There are new challenges and opportunities in the field of
economics," he said. "Under Bill Latham, a doctoral program in
economics has been established and is being considered for formal
approval by the Faculty Senate.
     "There currently are approximately 80 graduate students in the
department, with 20 seeking Ph.Ds. Helping them find positions and
recruiting high quality students for undergraduate and graduate
programs are priorities."
     Butkiewicz also said that he plans to develop closer ties between
the department and the local business community.
     He currently is working on a seminar involving the Federal
Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, the business community, the University
and other area schools.
     The recipient of the Department of Economics' excellence in
teaching award for 1989, Butkiewicz is a graduate of Wilkes College
and earned a doctorate from the University of Virginia.
     He is the author of many papers on macroeconomic issues, most
recently on the Reconstruction Finance Corp. during the Depression in
1932, examining what can be done for financial institutions at time of
crisis.
                                                   -Sue Swyers Moncure