"Kaizen is Japanese for continuous improvement," says David Pyke, Tuck's associate dean for the MBA program and Benjamin Ames Kimball Professor of the Science of Administration. "You teach it and you live it." Pyke, who will leave Tuck at the end of June to become dean of the University of San Diego School of Business Administration, will be deeply missed by everyone who worked with him, precisely because of the way he approached every aspect of his life at Tuck with a dedication to kaizen.
Pyke joined the Tuck faculty in 1987 after receiving his MBA at Drexel University and his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. Tuck Senior Associate Dean Bob Hansen says, "Dave Pyke has been part of the bedrock of Tuck for 20 years. He has been successful in all dimensions—research, teaching, as a dean, and as a colleague."
In the area of operations management and supply chain management, Pyke's research has been widely published, and he serves on the editorial boards of several leading journals. Pyke is also admired not only for the work he does with corporations but for bringing those lessons back to the classroom.
"Dave Pyke is passionate about teaching," says Professor Eric Johnson, who has worked with Pyke in a variety of ways over the years. "He taught me the importance of rehearsing complex explanations. He would teach out loud in the car and in his office until he had it just right! But when he delivered to the class, his energy and excitement made you feel like he was doing it for the first time."
Michael Sayre T'01, who had Pyke as a teacher, says, "Dave is the real deal— not merely a theorist. He taught us skills that continue to matter on a daily basis in our careers."
Pyke became associate dean in 2002 and flourished in the role. "I love connecting the dots," he says. The function of a dean, he believes, is to provide leadership and never sit still. During his tenure, Pyke was the catalyst for numerous notable programs, including the Jonathan L. Cohen D'60, T'61 Leadership Development Program.
And Pyke is proud of his efforts to bring people together. After a brainstorming session with Professor Gregg Fairbrothers, the two hatched the idea for the Dartmouth Entrepreneurial Network (DEN), which fosters entrepreneurship throughout the Dartmouth community. (Fairbrothers is now DEN's director.) Pyke relished the role of identifying gaps, bringing people together, and then, he says with a laugh, "handing off the day-to-day."
Pyke is as much admired, and will be equally as missed, for the manner in which he engaged in community life. From opening the doors of his home to Tuck visitors, to active involvement in the Young Life organization for adolescents, to offering advice on child rearing (Pyke and his wife, Sue, are the parents of three boys), colleagues at Tuck and the community sing his praise.
The decision to leave Tuck has been agonizing. "Tuck is a vibrant intellectual environment, and we have good friends here," Pyke says. However, with the youngest of his sons heading off to college in the fall and with family out west, he and Sue decided this was a good time for a new adventure. "I looked back about a year ago and wondered if it might be time. I feel a pull to the West."
The University of San Diego's School of Business Administration is somewhat similar to Tuck in its size and in the collegiality of the faculty. "While it may not be as highly ranked, the business school has a desire to change and grow," he says.
With the experience and accolades he garnered at Tuck, and with his passion for kaizen, Pyke will surely thrive. However, he will be greatly missed by one and all at Tuck. As Michael Sayre says, "Dave Pyke represents the essence of the Tuck experience. He showed us what excellence in teaching, applying an MBA, and participating in community should look like." How do you improve on that?
