Contact

366 Mervis Hall
zoffer@katz.pitt.edu
412-624-7678

Profile

H. J. Zoffer served as dean of the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business of the University of Pittsburgh from 1968 to 1996, following a career in teaching and university administration. He holds the BBA, MA, and PhD degrees, as well as the CPCU designation from the American Institute. His doctorate was earned at the University of Pittsburgh, where his major fields of interest were economics and corporate finance.

He was the recipient of a Ford Foundation Fellowship in Applied Mathematics and has taught courses in accounting, industrial organization and management, business ethics, and corporation finance. In 1986 he was selected as Man of the Year in Education by Vectors-Pittsburgh.

He is the author of a number of articles and books on such subjects as individual and group decision-making under risk, the social responsibility of business, continuing education for managers, business ethics, corporate risk analysis, accounting education, and improving institutional credibility. His articles have been published in such journals as Management Review, Academy of Management Review, Management Accounting, the Journal of General Management, and Corporate Governance.

Courses Recently Taught

• BSEO 2401 Business Ethics

Awards and Honors

• Vectors-Pittsburgh Award for the Man of the Year in Education.
• Leadership Award of the Business and Professional Association of Pittsburgh.
• Ford Foundation Fellowship in Applied Mathematics.

Professional Service and Activities

Zoffer is past president of the Middle Atlantic Association of Colleges of Business Administration, a past member of the Board of Directors and past president of the American Association of University Administrators (AAUA), and past president of the AAUA Foundation. He is past chair of the Accreditation Research Committee of the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and was a member of its Board of Directors and its Executive Committee for a number of years. He was president of AACSB for 1985-86. He is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Pittsburgh District Export Council and of the Student Consultant Project of the University of Pittsburgh. He is also past president of the University Club of Pittsburgh, and serves on the boards of a number of civic organizations.

Consulting Activities

Zoffer has been a member of a number of professional organizations. He has previously served as a director of the Foundation for Applied Science and Technology, the Enterprise Corporation, Oliver Realty, the Penn Traffic Company, the Eckstein Company, Pennwood Savings Bank, and Red Bull Inns of America. He has also served as a director of the Emerald Growth Fund, the Emerald Bank and Finance Fund, and the Emerald Technology Fund. He is secretary-treasurer and board member of the David Berg Foundation. His consulting firm, Zoffer Associates, has served as a private consultant to a number of educational institutions.

Degrees

• PhD in Business Administration (Economics), University of Pittsburgh
• CPCU, American Institute in Philadelphia
• MA in Risk and Insurance, University of Pittsburgh
• BBA in Accounting, University of Pittsburgh

Recent Publications

Zoffer, H. J.; Bahurmoz, Anna; Hamid, M. K.; Minutolo, Marcel; Saaty, Thomas; “Synthesis of complex criteria decision making: A case towards a consensus agreement for a Middle East conflict resolution,” Group Decision and Negotiation.

Zoffer, H.J. and Fram, Eugene H., “Are American Corporate Directors Still Ignoring the Signals?” Corporate Governance: International Journal of Business in Society, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2005.

Zoffer, H.J., “The Role of the Contemporary University in Addressing Ethical Considerations,” pp. 1-13, Presented in November 2003 at the 2003 International Meeting of the American Association of University Administrators, in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Zoffer, H.J. and Fram, Eugene H., “Closing Governance and Finance Gaps,” Executive Excellence: Ethics/Action Section, pp. 19-21, March 2003.

Zoffer, H.J. and Fram, Eugene H., “The ENRON Enigma: Changing Expectations,” summarized in MIT Sloan Management Review, Fall 2002, Vol. 44, No. 1, p. 13.

Center Affiliation

Berg Center

Academic Area

Organizations and Entrepreneurship

Personal Interests

Zoffer is an avid collector of arts, devoted to the New York and local theater, and in his spare time plays the organ and piano in a desultory fashion.