The Rady School of Management at UC San Diego today announced that Rossen Valkanov, Professor of Finance, has been appointed as the inaugural recipient of the Zable Endowed Chair in Management Leadership. The Zable Endowed Chair was established from a bequest from Cubic Corporation founder Walter J. Zable and his wife, Betty C. Zable, to support faculty recruitment, teaching, and research activities and to support the creation of new models for management education at the Rady School of Management.
“The appointment of Rossen Valkanov as the inaugural Zable Endowed Chair in Management Leadership reflects his innovative approach to research, his commitment to management education and his contributions to the Rady School and the entire UC San Diego community,” said Rady School Dean Robert S. Sullivan.
In 2013, the Zables gave $6.05 million in a bequest to UC San Diego. $1 million of the gift established the Zable Endowed Chair in Management at the Rady School. An additional $1 million of the gift established the Zable Endowed Chair in Energy Technologies at the Jacobs School of Engineering. The UC San Diego Shiley Eye Center received $100,000 of the gift. The remainder of the gift, $3.9 million, was allocated by the UC San Diego Foundation at the Chancellor’s request to establish the endowed Zable Scholarship and Fellowship Program for UC San Diego students.
“I am honored to be chosen as the recipient of the Zable Endowed Chair,” said Valkanov. “The generous support of the Zable family will give me the opportunity to advance my research and teaching initiatives.”
Walter J. Zable, who died in June 2012 at the age of 97, founded San Diego-based Cubic Corporation in 1951 and served until his death as chief executive, chairman and president. Walter J. and Betty Zable have been generous supporters of UC San Diego since 1966, giving $7.2 million to support a variety of UC San Diego campus programs, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Health Sciences.
Melinda Battenberg is the Public Relations Representative at the Rady School of Management. In her free time Battenberg enjoys cooking, craft beer and spending time with her family