ABEST21 e-News
No.121, March 2023- Special Issue-In deep memory of Vice President Ilker Baybars ABEST21 International
THE ALLIANCE ON BUSINESS EDUCATION AND SCHOLARSHIP FOR TOMORROW,
a 21st century organization

URL: http://www.abest21.org

TEL. 03-3498-6220

E-Mail: ABEST21@abest21.org
Editor: Fumio ITOH

In deep memory of Vice President Ilker Baybars

“His contribution will be an everlasting memory in ABEST21
history.”
ABEST21 President
Former Dean and Professor Emeritus Dr. Fumio ITOH
Graduate School of International Management, Aoyama Gakuin University,Japan
We announce with deep sadness that ourVice President and Deputy Dean Emeritus
Professor Dr. Ilker Baybars, Carnegie Mellon
University, passed away on December 23, 2022
at the age of 75 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, USA.
He was the former dean of Carnegie Mellon
University in Qatar, and the George Leland Bach
Professor of Operations Management at
Carnegie Mellon University. He was a vital force
among
the
communityof
ABEST21
International, and with his passing, many havelost a friend and a colleague. He hastremendously contributed to the development of ABEST21 International as the Vice President since
its foundation. We will remember him for his hard work and dedication during the founding of
ABEST21, for his collegiality, for his forward-looking thinking, and his keen ability to engage with andcollaborate with international members of ABEST21.

His contributions to the launching of ABEST21 were invaluable.
On June 28, 2004, at the Hakone Conference, discussion about the prospective network ofbusiness schools that will help to enhance the quality of management education was held. This was
the start of the preparation for establishing THE ALLIANCE ON BUSINESS EDUCATION ANDSCHOLARSHIP FOR TOMORROW, a 21st century organization (ABEST21). In this Hakone meeting hecoordinated various opinions and consolidated them. Consequently, we were able to organize 16
business schools from different parts of the world, and to establish ABEST21 as a mutual evaluation
institution.

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We recognized his 10-year dedicated service as a Vice President of ABEST21.
On July 6-7th 2015, ABEST21 10th Anniversary events were held at Hotel New Otani in Tokyo. There
were 71 participants from different parts of the world. The ceremony started with Opening Remarksof a Vice President, Ilker Baybars. In his speech, he declared to continue to support excellence inlearning and discovery of new knowledge in the member institutions: “Our standards are high, ourconditions are demanding, but the enthusiasm of the applicants makes us feel we would enjoy
working with them”. Vice President Ilker Baybars has set the tone of the ceremony. In this meeting,
we recognized his 10-year invaluable contribution by ABEST21 special certificate.

He also contributed to Development of the ABEST21 Accreditation as a Chair of
the Accreditation Committee.
Thanks to his strong support, ABEST21 was able to conduct a total of 98 accreditations for
professional graduate schools in Japan and for management programs of the schools/faculties in
Asia-Pacific. He served as a Chair of the ABEST21 Accreditation Committee for 18 years, andABEST21 managed to conduct 98 accreditations with his dedicated contribution.

Even under the emergency of COVID-19 pandemic, he joined the Online Peer
Review Visits from US.
Even under the emergency of COVID-19 pandemic, he joined the Online Peer Review Visit from US,
to interview members from different parts of the Southeast Asia. Thanks to his participation, we
learned to treat the online peer review visit not merely as an emergency method under the pandemic,
but as response to the challenges of globalization. We are confident that his commitment will2

contribute to the enrichment of our members who, having unshakable faith in symbiotic
relationships and working in harmony with nature, are capable of serving society and promoting thedevelopment of the economic communities of the Asia-Pacific region.

He was a very reassured supporter for promoting our Global Knowledge
Network activities.
The symposium on "Creating the Future through Quality Improvement" was held on Wednesday,
March 2, 2016 at Sony University in Shinagawa, Tokyo. The theme was how to create anorganization which develops and realizes the dreams for the future. This was an opportunity to think
about the driving force of such development. At the symposium the keynote speech was given by
Vice President Deputy Dean Prof. Ilker Baybars, Ph.D. Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon
University, US.

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We were the students of Baybars School.

May 23, 2008

“Dr. Yuji Ijiri was a founder of the transitional momentum accounting practice.”(ABEST21 eNews No. 90, 2017)
Prof. Ilker Baybars, Ph.D.
ABEST21 Vice President and ABEST21 Founding Member
Dean and CEO, Carnegie Mellon University-Qatar, Qatar
Professor Yuji Ijiri, founder of the transitional momentum accounting practice, also known as
triple-entry accounting, died on January 18, 2017. He was 81.
Dr. Ijiri was educated and employed as an accountant in his native Japan. He came to the Graduate
School of Industrial Administration-GSIA (now the Tepper School of Business) in Carnegie Mellon
University in Pittsburgh, PA, USA in 1959. He earned his Ph.D. degree in industrial administration in
1963 and, after four years at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, joined the faculty of GSIA.
He remained a central Carnegie Mellon figure from 1967 until his death.
Dr. Ijiri retired in 2011 after serving as the R.M. Trueblood University Professor of Accounting andEconomics. During his time in this position he collaborated and taught alongside notables such as
economist Herbert A. Simon, Nobel laureate, behavioral economist Richard M. Cyert, former
president of Carnegie Mellon University, global operations research and accounting visionary William
W. Cooper, Ijiri’s thesis advisor, James March, political scientist and behavioral theorist, and4

macroeconomist Allan Meltzer.
Professor Ijiri played an instrumental role in the history of the Tepper School and is considered oneof the intellectual giants of his era. Throughout his career, Yuji was an intellectual leader who had
tremendous impact on the field of accounting, his colleagues, and the legions of Ph.D. students heworked with over the years. His influence and contributions have left an enduring legacy of research
productivity and impact that sets one of the highest standards for academic achievement.
Dr. Ijiri was named to The Accounting Hall of Fame in 1989, an honor afforded just 94 people
through its 67-year history. He authored more than 200 published papers and 25 books, sometranslated into Spanish, French and Japanese but none more important to him than his 1989 work
about triple-entry accounting. He was among the founding members of the Journal of Accounting
and Public Policy in the early 1980s, as well as the only four-time winner of the American Accounting
Association (AAA) Notable Contributions to Accounting Literature Award: 1966, 1967, 1971 and 1976.
Ijiri served the AAA as vice president in the mid-1970s and president in the 1980s.
Ijiri, by his own description a “constant gardener in education” once said, “Carnegie Mellon has
indeed been ‘small gardens’ of learning blessed with exceptional teachers and students. Yet there
seems to be something more. The gardens seem to have a special way of letting people grow.”
Ijiri was 6 years old when he attended the Abacus Math School in Kobe, Japan, and by the 10th
grade was doing the bookkeeping for his father’s bakery. In 1952, before even graduating from the
Nara High School of Commerce, he passed a test that allowed him to take the CPA examination
without a college degree. He passed the CPA exam in 1953, while attending Doshisha Junior College
at night. He finished three years at Ritsumeikan University, also in Kyoto, with a bachelor’s of law
degree. Thus, he had completed all requirements for a CPA certificate at age 21, the youngest on
record in Japan.
He worked at a small accounting firm and then with Price Waterhouse before leaving in 1959 toattend graduate school at the University of Minnesota, where he received a master’s degree in 1960.
From there, he attended Carnegie Mellon where he remained except for four years as a faculty
member at Stanford University.
Ijiri also was recognized internationally in accounting for aggregation theory, firm size distributions,accounting measurement theory, computer languages, and quantitative models in business andeconomics. Fair value accounting in the early 2000s brought his concepts to the forefront again, andamong his final papers were works exploring connections between triple-entry accounting andquantum physics and quantum computing.

“ABEST21 will continue to help facilitate excellence in learning and discovery of
new knowledge in the member institutions.”(His Opening Remarks addressed in the 10th Anniversary meeting held on July 7,
2015.)
Dr. Ilker Baybars
Vice President, ABEST21
Dean and CEO, Carnegie Mellon University-Qatar
Dean Fumio Itoh of Aoyama University visited with us here in Pittsburgh more than 25 years ago.
He had heard of some of the exciting things we were doing in our programs, and he wanted to learn
about them. At the time the business education offered in the United States was ahead of that inEurope and the Far East. The progressive mind of Dean Itoh enabled collaboration between his
5institution and ours. We had faculty exchanges, we shared coursework, and we jointly developed
pedagogical technologies.
Professor Yuji Ijiri, Trueblood University Professor (now retired) of Accounting here at Carnegie
Mellon, and Dean Itoh had formed an intellectual relationship, supporting each other and the visionof Fumio Itoh as Dean at Aoyama Gakuin. He always welcomed state of the art, cutting edge
educational technologies and our innovative pedagogical approaches, thereby nurturing thiscollaboration extremely well. We benefited significantly from our interaction with Dean Itoh andAoyama Gakuin. After an extremely productive and mutually beneficial collaboration between
Aoyama Gakuin University and Carnegie Mellon, we felt we would support wholeheartedly the new
initiative of Dean Fumio Itoh when he started talking about ABEST21. When Dean Itoh wanted tomove on to this next goal, we did not waste any time wondering as to whether we should continue
working with him. That was a no-brainer – of course, we would. It has been our pleasure,
professionally and personally, during the past ten years, helping Dean Itoh build ABEST21. His
energy, his demeanor, his style, his leadership, his vision, helped us all in the U.S. and the Far Eastand contributed to him realizing his goals.
ABEST21 will continue to help facilitate excellence in learning and discovery of new knowledge inthe member institutions. Our standards are high, our conditions are demanding, but the enthusiasmof the applicants makes us feel we would enjoy working with them. Dean Itoh has set the tone withthis environment.
Over the years we have enjoyed Dean Itoh’s hospitality many, many times. He and his staff havealways presented us with carefully prepared schedules and programs and executed them as planned.
We can easily feel Dean Itoh’s stamp in everything that ABEST21’s staff does: thoroughprofessionalism, wonderful attitude. It has been a great experience, Dean Itoh, getting to know you,your colleagues and staff at Aoyama Gakuin, and later, your colleagues and staff at ABEST21.
Furthermore, we have benefited from the golden opportunity to visit Japan and get to know andappreciate your country and countrymen.

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“CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF PROFESSOR ILKER BAYBARS”
Vice President, ABEST21 International
Former Dean Professor Robert S. Sullivan, Ph.D.
Rady School of Management, University of California San Diego, USA
Recently our community lost a very important and beloved memberof the ABEST21 family. Professor Ilker Baybars passed away on
December 23, 2022, after a long and courageous battle with illness.
Professor Baybars was the George Leland Bach Professor of Operations
Management at the Tepper School at Carnegie Mellon University in the
United States. But importantly for our ABEST21 community, he was at
the forefront of defining and creating our global organization. He
remained engaged and active throughout, and served for many years
as Vice President for Membership.
Professor Baybars was always a globalist throughout his career.
Born and raised in Turkey, he earned his Bachelor of Science Degree atthe Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey. He then studied at Carnegie Mellon
University for his Master of Science and PhD degrees. It so happened that Carnegie Mellon would
become Professor Baybars professional home for the rest of his career.
Beginning as a faculty member at the Graduate School of Industrial Administration at Carnegie
Mellon, Professor Baybars worked his way through the academic ranks. Eventually he served asassociate dean, then deputy dean, and also as acting president of the Carnegie Bosch Institute forApplied International Studies. And importantly, he served as dean and CEO of the Qatar Campus ofCarnegie Mellon. This was a rare opportunity to engage the Carnegie Mellon community in the
dynamics of Middle Eastern higher education. At this, Professor Baybars truly excelled.
Throughout his professional life, Professor Baybars helped to define, encourage and facilitate theconcept of global knowledge networks. During the early 1990’s, along with the late distinguishedscholar, Yuji Ijiri, he began a visionary partnership with Professor Fumio Itoh at Aoyama Gakuin
University in Tokyo. Some thirty years ago, this partnership broadcast live quantitative financecourses from Carnegie Mellon to students at Aoyama Gakiun using video conferencing. This was anamazing precursor to our current Zoom environment. It also became foundational for recognizing
the urgency and capacity of Global Knowledge Networks, which were so successfully pursued by
ABEST21’s President, Fumio Itoh.
These relationships blossomed into the recognition of the need and technical capacity forknowledge sharing and the pursuit of excellence in higher education – especially for Asian businessand management education. Professor Baybars, working with President Fumio Itoh and others,
started an important movement for business education that centered on defining global standards
for excellence that involved knowledge sharing, meticulous evaluations and recognition forachievement. Indeed, Professor Baybars was a key ally of President Fumio Itoh in helping to create
and always improve ABEST21.
I know that all of our ABEST21 community mourns the loss of our inspiration colleague and friend.
But I also know that we join in celebrating his immense contributions that have impacted so many.
His life will be celebrated through the continued growth and impact of ABEST21. And in particular his
life will be celebrated through the achievements of member schools as they continuously improve
quality and excellence.
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“One of the most prominent speakers throughout
the history of ABEST21 annual meetings has been Dr. Ilker
Baybars.”
Vice President, ABEST21 International
Dean Professor Dr. Oleg Vikhanskiy
Lomonosov Moscow State University Business School, Lomonosov Moscow State
University, Russia
An important event in the life of ABEST21 is the annual meeting wherescientific reports are presented and a broad discussion is conducted. Oneof the most prominent speakers throughout the history of these ABEST21
annual meetings has been Dr. Ilker Baybars. His speeches always
combined academic outlook, subtle humor and sincere kindness. With his
active participation in the annual meetings, Dr. Ilker Baybars created an
unforgettable atmosphere of the high academic standards, complemented
by friendliness and spirit of partnership.
The bright memory of an outstanding man, our colleague Dr. Ilker
Baybars will forever remain in our hearts.

“He demonstrated working through adversity and led
everyone along with his quiet and calm personality.”
Vice President, ABEST21 International
Dean Professor Dr. Ali Khatibi
Senior Vice President, Management & Science University, Malaysia
In memory of my great friend, Vice President and Emeritus, Deputy
Dean of the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University,
Professor Ilker Baybars, Ph.D.
When I learned of his passing, I was startled and heartbroken. Deathhas claimed the life of a genuinely kind person. He has left us all with alasting image in my mind as an ethical, cooperative, kind, helpful, anddevoted individual. Despite his established position and upbringing, his
determination to preserve despite going through difficult personal
circumstances reflected his dedication to ABEST21's obligations andresponsibilities. He demonstrated working through adversity and led
everyone along with his quiet and calm personality.
His passing is an especially challenging and traumatic moment for his family. I am sending myheartfelt condolences and prayers to them and wish them the courage and resilience to bear thisterrible loss, a loss of a wonderful person.

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“Dr. Baybars harbored a vision for educational innovationsin the coming new era.”
Professor Hiroshi TAKAMORI, Ph.D.
LEC Graduate School of Accounting, Japan
Former Dean and Professor Emeritus, Graduate School of International Management、
Aoyama Gakuin University, JapanI learned of Dr. Ilker Baybars’ passing with greatest sadness. Drawing
from my fond memories of Dr. Baybars, I wish to write on some precious
experiences that President Itoh and I owe him. Dean Itoh, Aoyama
Business School, Professor Horiuchi, our colleague, and I were visiting
Carnegie Mellon University during winter in the late 1980s. On the first day,we met Dean Sullivan and Associate Dean Baybars at the Tepper School ofBusiness, Carnegie Mellon University. Our purpose for the visit was torequest for a simplified version of a Business Game software to be
implanted in the Aoyama Business Program that was to be launched soon.
The software we requested was a brief version used in the Flex-Time
Executive Program at Carnegie. Dr. Baybars founded this Program andoversaw its operation.
Upon listening to Dean Itoh’s request, Dr. Baybars was kind enough to suggest deeper support for
us by saying, “Why not implant the full-scale Management Game course of our Business School
Program?” We were puzzled because, I think, we were not fully aware of the significance of theManagement Game in business education. Dr. Baybars added, “Maybe, any time soon, Aoyama MBA
Program could run the Management Game course jointly with us!” Our surprise deepened because,at the time, we did not know of the Internet that was soon to come of age. Dr. Baybars, however,must have been harboring a vision for educational innovations in the coming new era.
On that evening, Dr. Baybars invited us to attend, as observers, heated exchanges between
student executives and board members in the board meeting sessions of the Management Game.
Our visit to Carnegie was indeed an eye-opening experience as to what Business Education could be.
This gave us fresh courage to challenge a traditional belief in Japan that management is somethingthat you cannot teach at school and can only be learned through on-the-job training. Management
Game indeed throws learners into the realities of business where players are to make decisions, in ateam or group, in the face of uncertainties and even conflicts, and are held accountable throughreviewing.
Upon returning to Tokyo, Dean Itoh set up a Management Game course modeling that ofCarnegie’s as a pillar in the curriculum of Aoyama Business School. A couple of years later, thebusiness schools of Aoyama and Carnegie were running the Management Game course jointly via
what remained a rudimentary stage of the Internet network.
All these encounters with Dr. Baybars as well as other distinguished educators are among theforces that fueled President Itoh’s dedication to ABEST21 International. Dr. Baybars will undoubtedly
continue encouraging President Itoh and the community of ABEST21 International as a great sourceof inspiration.

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“He was one of the great leaders in our global alliance.”
Former Dean Professor Dr. Li Kai
School of Business Administration, Northeastern University, China
To commemorate Professor Ilker Baybars
It is a great grief that Professor Ilker Baybars passed away on the 23rdof December 2022. In my memory, he was one of the great leaders in our
global alliance. In this time, his face seems to appear in front of my eyes.
That was one day in the winter of 1994 when Dean Fumio Itoh visited myschool, the School of Business Administration, Northeastern University,
which I worked for, and discussed with me the issue of setting up alaboratory in NEU for Global Classroom. The laboratory was supported by
the Japanese Government and equipped with ISDN lines which made it
possible to maintain the communication between the three schools
internationally. Since then, the School of Business Administration of NEU began a long period ofcooperation with Graduate School of International Management, Aoyama Gakuin University andTepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University. From that time, I knew Professor Ilker
Baybars, Professor Yuji, Professor Dave Lamont and other friends in CMU.
Tepper School was an important core member in the early stage of ABEST21. Professor Ilker
Baybars, as the deputy dean of the school, organized the global cooperation on the Management
Game, a simulation course of competition strategy management. From this cooperation and otheractivities, the advanced idea and method in management education spread among the members.
From Global Classroom to Global Network, then to ABEST21, he, and others, assisted President
Fumio Itoh, making the alliance became more and more influential in Asia-Pacific region. In my view,it was a speeding time of globalization in management education to us and we had benefited fromfrequent connection with other member schools.
I respect Professor Ilker Baybars not only because of his great contribution to the alliance, but also
because of his personality. He was really an honorable and gracious person with a mind ofinclusiveness and equity to others and other cultures. I still remember his sincere comfort as an oldfriend, when my family met accident. I still remember my visit to Carnegie Mellon University. When
we sat in the top the Mount of Washington, his eye was full of mercy, and firm, not only facing thebrilliant view of the triangle of the three river Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio, but also to thewhole world in my mind.
I hope Professor Ilker Baybars rests in peace.

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“Professor Dr. Baybars was a caring senior who generously
shared his wisdom and challenged us to think critically andcreatively about our role as educators.”
Professor Dr. Ming Yu Cheng
Faculty of Accountancy and Management, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman,
Malaysia
I was deeply saddened to receive the news of the passing ofProfessor Dr. Ilker Baybars on December 23, 2022. As one of thefounding members and Vice President of ABEST21, Professor Dr.
Baybars made immeasurable contributions to the development andsuccess of the organization. His kindness, collegiality andforward-looking thinking were instrumental in creating a culture of
excellence that continues to shape ABEST21 today.
I had the privilege of working with Professor Dr. Baybars on several occasions. Beyond his
impressive professional accomplishments, Professor Dr. Baybars was a caring senior who generously
shared his wisdom and challenged us to think critically and creatively about our role as educators. He
emphasized the importance of upholding the principles of ABEST21 in promoting quality education in
our institutions. I recall a question he posed during an accreditation meeting which made me ponder
deeply, "Why should a school worry about accreditation? What is the purpose of accreditation?"
This question underscored the significance of the accreditation process and emphasized the need for
educators to prioritize quality education and share best practices, to ensure they provide ahigh-quality education that meets the demands of their students, faculty, and the wider community.
In our pursuit of excellence in education, peer review and feedback are critical activities that help toidentify improvement opportunities, success stories, and good practices to promote continuous
improvement for the benefit of our students and society.
I am grateful for the lessons I learned from Professor Dr. Baybars, and I am honored to have
known and learned from him. Professor Dr. Baybars will be deeply missed by all who knew him. His
contributions to ABEST21 and the field of business education will continue to inspire us for many
years to come. My thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and colleagues during thisdifficult time.

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