In memoriam: Harold Williams, former dean of UCLA Anderson, philanthropist and arts advocate

/ by

Harold Williams, former dean of the UCLA Anderson School of Management and former UC regent, died July 30 at his home in Santa Ynez, California. He was 89.

When Williams was appointed dean of what was then the UCLA Graduate School of Business Administration in 1970, he was one of the first business school deans drawn from the corporate world. Previously, he had served as president of Hunt-Wesson Foods Inc. and chairman of the board of Norton Simon Inc.

“It was under Dean Williams’ leadership that UCLA was first recognized as a top business school,” said Alfred Osborne Jr., senior associate dean and professor at UCLA Anderson, who was hired by Williams in 1972.