Andre Louis Delbecq

Andre Delbecq (1936-2016), Senior Fellow of the Ignatian Center for Jesuit Education and Professor of Management at Santa Clara University passed away on October 12, 2016 after a short battle with pancreatic cancer. Andre was born in Toledo, Ohio and received his BA from the University of Toledo where he returned to teach after receiving his MBA and PhD from the University of Indiana. He then taught and became the Chair of the Department of Management of the University of Wisconsin before coming to Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California. Andre Delbecq’s long and distinguished career at Santa Clara University began as Dean of the Leavey School of Business, a position he held from 1979-1989. His various appointments included Director of the Institute for Spirituality of Organization Leadership, Faculty Senate President, Thomas J. and Kathleen L. McCarthy University Professor, and Senior Fellow of the Ignatian Center for Jesuit Education. Andre was highly recognized for his teaching, scholarship and leadership during his academic career and had received many awards, including: the President’s Recognition Awards, Extraordinary Achievement Awards, Dean’s Awards for Exceptional Teaching, Faculty Senate Professor of the Year, and most recently the Award for Sustained Excellence in Scholarship. In addition to many awards for his teaching, his much cited publications exceed 300 and he made over 400 academic and University Symposia presentations in his career. Leadership in his profession earned him appointments as the Eighth Dean of Fellows of the Academy of Management, President of both the Western and Midwest Academies of Management, Executive Director of the Organization Behavior Teaching Society; a listing in Who’s Who in the Management Sciences; The Distinguished Service to Management, Spirituality and Religion Award from the Academy of Management; and an honorary doctorate from the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology. What animated Andre more than the recognitions of professional excellence were the hundreds of letters, emails and notes from his students, colleagues and business leaders noting the contribution he made to their personal and professional lives and the profound changes he stimulated in their world view and consequent actions. Andre was a self proclaimed introvert. And yet hundreds of people consider him a deep personal friend who fundamentally changed their lives for the better. Andre consciously chose to look for the good in people and to nourish it throughout his very prominent career which for the last quarter of his life, took his deep intellect, professional experience in organizational management and well developed wisdom and applied it to the nurturing of the spirit of professional leaders. Andre Delbecq – 2 True to the Ignatian charism that animated him, he applied his understanding and practice of prayer, meditation and reflection to organizational leadership. He played a foundational role in developing and shaping the field of Spirituality and Business Leadership which has become the fastest growing segment of the Academy of Management. At Santa Clara, he founded the Ignatian Faculty Forum in 2002, and for almost 15 years he led the Forum in helping to engage faculty in reflective discernment and to discover Ignatian spirituality as it is lived by faculty. In 2013, he founded and designed the Senior Leadership Forum, a program that invites those in senior leadership at the University to explore Jesuit higher education and to reflect on their own calling as leaders in higher education. In his personal time Andre was the Founding Dean of the College of Fellows of the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology bringing interdisciplinary leaders in their fields for discussions on the intersection of faith and culture. He founded the Community of Joseph, a contemplative prayer group that met at Santa Clara University to pray for organizational leaders. He also enjoyed organizing many retreats, including interfaith retreats Andre loved his English mastiff dogs, his Harley Davidson,his boat, cooking gourmet meals with Mili, his beloved wife and partner for 27 years, his children, grandchildren and brother. He also loved his students and his colleagues and held them in his prayers whether they knew it or not. Andre Delbecq, loved by so many, will continue his work through all the people and organizations he touched over his long and distinguished career that to him was a calling. Andre is survived by his wife Mili Delbecq, daughter Adrienne Delbecq-Backos, brother Jean Pierre Delbecq, and three grandchildren Max, Mireille, and Jean-Luc by his son, Jean-Marc Delbecq who preceded him to his death. A memorial service will be held at Santa Clara University on Friday October 28 at 2:00 p.m. in the Mission Church with a reception to follow at the Locatelli Center. Donations in lieu of flowers may be sent to: Santa Clara University Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology c/o Leavey School of Business c/o Manuel Nikel-Zeuger 500 El Camino Real 2301 Vine St. Santa Clara, CA 95053 Berkeley, CA 94708 Cards and notes to Mili Delbecq may be sent: c/o Leavey School of Business Santa Clara

Andre Louis Delbecq

September 20, 1936 - October 12, 2016