Air Transport and Building to Be Studied at Business School

Pioneering a new field of research and education, the Business School announced yesterday a revolutionary program for the study and teaching of air transportation and manufacturing. An advisory committee, headed by William A. M. Burden '27, newly appointed Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Air, has been named to promote and organize the plan.

With 70 per cent of the School's students already in uniform, this latest step toward complete participation in the war effort climaxes a series of farsighted moves which began long before Pearl Harbor. First link of this transformation into a war school was the formation of the now basic Industrial Administration course.

Reflecting the official attitude is the explanation of Assistant Dean Philip Hofer, who stated, "The Business School is aware that the present development of aeronautical sciences because of the war means a new concept of post-war transportation. We feel that every phase of American economic life and world economy will be affected by this new factor. Our job is to train men to cope adequately with the problems which will inevitably develop. The projected air research and training program will do exactly that."

Three Sides to Plan

Under the direction of the committee, the program will take three forms. Already this group is engaged in gathering teaching material and "cases," since the School teachers by the "case" method. It is anticipated that the School will under take research projects, some of a very specialized nature, which may be of benefit to the aircraft manufacturing and transportation industries.

Finally, the program includes a teaching phase which will materialize first in the form of seminar course open to University students. George P. Baker '25, professor of Transportation, now on leave of absence, will head such a course if possible and secure outside speakers.

Committee of Experts

Listing among its number three aircraft corporation presidents, an Army captain, a government official, and an-expert on aeronautical science, the advisory committee will form one of the most competent groups of its kind in the nation.