Herbert W. Hildebrandt

Secretary of the University

Assistant to the President

Associate Professor of Speech

President Harlan Hatcher has announced the appointment of Herbert W. Hildebrandt to the post of secretary of the University and assistant to the president.

Dr. Hildebrandt is an associate professor of speech. As secretary to the University, he will succeed Erich A. Walter, who will retire at the end of July.

In his new post, Prof. Hildebrandt will serve as secretary to the Regents of the University and as a general administrative assistant to the president.

A member of the U-M faculty since 1958, Professor Hildebrandt received the Bachelor of Arts degree from Wartburg College, Iowa, in 1952, and earned his master’s and doctoral degrees at the University of Wisconsin. He was an instructor in the U.S. Army, 1953-54, and served as a teaching assistant and instructor in a speech at the University of Wisconsin. He joined the Michigan faculty as an instructor and was promoted to assistant professor in 1961 and to associate professor in 1964.

The Michigan Alumnus 19,  June 1, 1966

Memoir

Herbert W. Hildebrandt, Ph.D., professor of business administration in the School of Business Administration, and professor of communication studies in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, retired from active faculty status on May 31, 1998.

Professor Hildebrandt received his B.A. degree from Wartburg College in 1952 and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Wisconsin in 1955 and 1958, respectively. He joined the University of Michigan faculty in 1958 as an instructor in speech and was promoted to assistant professor in 1961, associate professor in 1965, and professor of speech in 1971. He assumed a joint appointment as a lecturer in the School of Business Administration in 1970 and was promoted to professor of business administration in 1971. From 1966-70, he also served as secretary of the university and assistant to the president.

Professor Hildebrandt’s service to the University and his profession has been extraordinary. He has served on numerous University-wide committees, including having chaired the University Committee on Ceremonials, which was charged with planning and carrying out the University’s Sesquicentennial celebration in 1967. An active participant in professional associations, he has served as president of the Association of Business Communication and in 1994 received that organization’s Outstanding Researcher Award.

Professor Hildebrandt has been an extremely dedicated and productive researcher and teacher. He was among the group of visionaries who recognized early the importance of international research, focusing his attention on such research streams as sociological patterns and lifestyles of U.S. and Asian middle managers and on international management communication issues. His file is full of letters attesting to the impact his instruction in oral and written communication has had on generations of students. From his love of and insistence upon communication excellence, to his skillful classroom instruction, to his administrative contributions, Professor Hildebrandt’s influence has extended broadly across the University.

The Regents now salute this faculty member by naming Herbert W. Hildebrandt professor emeritus of business administration and professor emeritus of communication studies.

Regents’ Proceedings, July 1998, Page 25