ATRIUM The four-story glass atrium connects the original building with the addition via six sky bridges. TEAM STUDY ROOMS The addition's thirty-nine team study rooms hold six to eight students each and can be reserved online. ASSEMBLY HALL The largest room in the addition, it holds up to 284 students in lecture-style seating. MBA OFFICE SUITE This space houses the full-time and executive MBA programs--including fourteen employees. CASE ROOMS The addition has six large (70 capacity) and four small (50 capacity) tiered case rooms.


EXCERPTS FROM DEDICATION CEREMONY

President Thomas S. Monson
You’re a marvelous sight. I can’t stand up here without remembering my association with N. Eldon Tanner, a great mentor of mine. When I was called to serve as president of the Canadian Mission, he was the first to say, “I’d like to talk to you.” Of course, he gave me some counsel about how to get along with the Canadians, and then he talked a little more about other subjects. What a giant in the land we had in Eldon Tanner.

I’d like to take a moment of privilege and thank all of the professors who approached me when I sought an MBA and completed it at Brigham Young University. Sometimes the professors would see me and sometimes I would see them, but I’m very grateful to declare that I am a graduate of the Marriott School of Management—partly because it bears the Marriott name and partly because it has such an outstanding record.

Now, as I have the privilege of offering a prayer of dedication, I think of the original dedication. That was an exciting event. There are so many great leaders who have helped shape this school. You can’t talk about just one; you must talk about all these great people who prefer the background. They’re not front-page people. They’re in the trenches, and they get the job done. They’re generous to a fault. It’s a joy for me to be here today and to participate in the dedication of this great building.


Ned C. Hill
In the last twenty-five years since the original Tanner Building was dedicated, we’ve added 50 percent more students. We’ve added thirty-five new faculty members. We’ve also created several centers and a large placement facility.

I extend the school’s deepest thanks to all who have contributed so generously to this important milestone in our history. On behalf of future BYU students, thanks to all of you—especially to Bill and Donna and Dick and Nancy Marriott—for having faith in us.

As beautiful and wonderful as this facility is, what will really matter most will be what goes on in the minds and hearts of the students who pass through these classrooms. Will a powerful faith in the gospel infuse management education with lasting values? Will the influence of faithful faculty carry over into the lives of our students? Will these students go forth from this beautiful facility to be a leaven in the earth—to raise faithful families, to serve diligently in the church, and to be a powerful influence for good in their companies, their communities, and their families to be ethical leaders full of charity and to be examples of humble followers of Christ? I know they will.

I witness the goodness of a loving Heavenly Father toward our students, our faculty, and our leaders. I have seen a powerful transformation in the respect and admiration so many business leaders around the world show to this wonderful school and the values it stands for. Truly the hand of the Lord has been upon this school and upon all who associate with it.

Richard E. Marriott
One of the basic philosophies we preach in the church and in our business is that you find a need and fill it. We didn’t have to be too astute to figure out what the basic need for BYU’s Marriott School was. All you had to do was walk down the hall or see the students studying in the stairwells.

This new space will not necessarily make the education of the Marriott School any better than it is already—the school is ranked near the top of almost every college and university MBA ranking. But I think this facility will significantly raise the quality of its students’ experience; it will allow the school to serve even more talented and capable young people who will be future leaders.

I keep a file of interesting business articles. One, from a 1971 Harvard Business Review, talks about the important skills a business school doesn’t often teach. First was people skills, second was the ability to identify and act on opportunities, third was the ability to stick with a job and create a career, and fourth was the ethical use of power and authority.

When I look at the programs and consider the experience and skills of the students enrolled here, I start to understand why Marriott School students have most of these qualities. These great young men and women have already been exposed to problems and opportunities in the world. They know how to relate to people, and many are experienced in other cultures. They’ve been trained by great parents and given great moral values.

BYU and the Marriott School help them expand and apply these talents so they can go out and make the world a better place. Investing in these fabulous young people is the best monetary and social investment we can make.


J.W. Marriott Jr.
Several years ago Ned Hill told me one hundred MBA students were graduating each year, and he said he could double the number if he had more space. I saw an opportunity to develop many more business leaders and particularly future church leaders. I have a strong belief that these students can make a real difference in the world.

In today’s global business world there is a great need for leaders who have a strong code of ethics and foreign language ability. BYU graduates fill this need.

Business has always been about competitive advantage. Seventy-nine percent of the graduates from the Marriott School are returned missionaries, and 68 percent speak a foreign language. This is a personal foundation that will give each graduate a tremendous competitive advantage in the workplace.

Today, language ability takes on new importance. I spoke at the University of New Hampshire Hospitality School last year and a student asked me what he should study, and without hesitation I suggested Mandarin.

As we face very turbulent economic times, we need leaders whose righteousness helps them know that on a clear day they can see forever what their earthly mission is. They have an eternal perspective that removes fear of the moment and gives them faith and confidence in the future. When Joseph Smith was deeply discouraged and suffering in Liberty Jail, he cried out to his Heavenly Father, “Where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?” And the Lord answered, “Peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment.”

Today’s tough times, I am convinced, will be but a small moment, as our eternal perspective does not allow for discouragement. Instead, it enforces the need for a positive attitude that helps us step forward with creative and exciting solutions to the problems of the day.


DEDICATORY PRAYER

President Thomas S. Monson
Our beloved Father in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. We bow before Thee in reverence and love. Our hearts are filled with gratitude to Thee for this beautiful addition to the building named for our beloved President N. Eldon Tanner. We thank Thee for him and for all that he exemplified in his life and ministry for the benefit of mankind.

We incorporate and make a part of this prayer the thanksgiving and supplications included in the earlier prayer of dedication of this building by President Gordon B. Hinckley over twenty-five years ago.

We thank Thee for the faithful members of the Church who, through their payment of tithes and offerings, have made possible this addition that we, with pleasure, behold this day.

Let those who shall teach here teach with Thy Spirit as a constant companion. Help the students and instructors remember the words of the Apostle Paul, who declared to the Corinthians, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”

Bless all students that they might recognize that they walk on hallowed ground when entering this building. May each one appreciate the past, contemplate the future, and work diligently in the present.

This beautiful addition, which has been under construction for a period of time, has now been completed. We are grateful for the architects who designed it and for the workmen who built it. We appreciate the watchful care of President Cecil O. Samuelson and his associates and ask that Thou wilt continue to bless them. Bless the educational system of Thy Church everywhere and all who come under its inspired influence.

Now, our beloved Father, acting in the authority of the holy priesthood in me vested, and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I dedicate unto Thee this magnificent addition to the original Tanner Building. I dedicate the offices, the classrooms, the assembly areas, and the hallways, as well as the beautiful grounds which adorn the structure.

May Thy holy hand protect these facilities, that no untoward incident may deface or destroy. May it be regarded with appreciation and gratitude by all. May this truly be a house of learning.

In behalf of all assembled here, I invoke Thy blessings upon this entire facility and upon those who come within its portals. May each truly enter to learn and go forth to serve. They will be witnesses of Thee and Thy work by their very lives.

These blessings we seek, these thanks we express, by the authority of the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood, and in the sacred name of our Savior and Redeemer, even Jesus Christ, amen.

KNOT YOUR AVERAGE CRAFTSMAN
by Emily Smurthwaite

Gordon Nichol can’t smell wood anymore.

As far back as he can remember, Nichol has been in a wood shop. The sawdust scent has become so second nature he can’t distinguish it from pure oxygen unless he’s away from the shop for a few months.

Nichol is one of sixty BYU physical facility employees who worked on the Tanner Building Addition. Specifically, he was asked to help design and carve two moveable lecterns that would serve as focal points in the addition’s large assembly hall. The podiums, which took four weeks to complete, are a blend of classical Greek and early-Victorian style. He constructed them out of cherrywood and flamed walnut, two of his favorite woods. Nichol’s stunningly detailed podiums also conceal a mass of cables, plugs, and high-tech controls used to bring a presentation to life. In his thirty years as a BYU cabinetmaker, he’s created podiums, furniture, display cases, and benches for the university. “There’s probably not a building on campus that I don’t have something in,” he says.

Nichol works with three other full-time cabinetmakers on campus; they oversee an office on the southeast corner of campus filled with timber, several large saws, dust, and seven student employees. “The best part of my job is the people I work with,” he acknowledges. “They are all very competent, capable cabinetmakers.”

Like any job, being a cabinetmaker comes with some occupational hazards. “I get splinters daily,” says Nichol, who majored in industrial arts at BYU. “And I’ve become very good at removing them.”

Nichol considers it a great honor to have built podiums that prophets have stood behind. “I was given a few talents, and I feel it’s my responsibility to develop them,” he says quietly. “I probably wouldn’t do well as a math teacher or an administrator.”

Coming from a long line of wood workers—his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather—Nichol has traveled to Europe a few times, snapping pictures along the way of “anything that looked like it ought to be in a podium,” and buying select wood. He also studied hand carving in Scotland, which skills he put to use when helping create the organ case found in the Provo Central Stake Center.

In addition to building furniture, Nichol also is a local luthier, specializing in constructing violins, violas, and cellos. He’s created hundreds of instruments in the past thirty years. And while he was studying in Scotland, he picked up bagpipe making, another avocation of his. His bagpipes, actually, are in greater demand than his stringed instruments. “There are more bagpipes in the United States than in Scotland,” he relays. “Playing the bagpipes is a growing trend here.” And just in case you weren’t convinced that Nichol was the hands-on creative type, a few years ago he, his wife, and their six kids built a forty-one-foot sailboat in their backyard and sailed it from San Francisco to Alaska.

At least he could smell the ocean.

DISTINGUISHED LEADERSHIP AWARDS
In conjunction with the Tanner Building Addition Dedication and the National Advisory Council conference, the school honored Richard E. Marriott and J.W. Marriott Jr. at a banquet 24 October 2008. President Henry B. Eyring, President Cecil O. Samuelson, and Dean Gary C. Cornia presented the brothers with Distinguished Leadership Awards.

About 550 people attended the event, including Marriott family members, General Authorities, government officials, NAC members, and Marriott School faculty, staff, and administrators. The evening included a performance by the acclaimed BYU Men’s Chorus and a video presentation highlighting key characteristics that have defined the Marriotts’ lives and business success.


EXCERPTS FROM DISTINGUISHED LEADERSHIP AWARDS BANQUET

President Cecil O. Samuelson
I believe all of us know of the remarkable public record of the Marriott family and their service at Brigham Young University, as well as elsewhere. Tonight we recognize them for many things, including many more that could be mentioned that have not been. I would like to take a moment to share what has been most touching to me in all the events we’ve been celebrating.

As you know, both Bill and Dick were major motivators in this spectacular expansion project that was dedicated today. I try to listen very carefully when I’m approached by people who have suggestions about things the university should do. You might understand that happens quite frequently. I learned something from Bill and Dick that taught me a great deal about them and about their motivations. As we visited with Dean Hill, his team, and with the NAC leadership, we talked about bringing this vision to fruition, and I learned what the Marriotts’ motivations were not. They were not trying to promote further recognition or acclaim for the already stellar Marriott name. I don’t think they were particularly pushing to enhance the reputation of an already impressive management school. And I don’t think they were driven to add additional luster to an already remarkable university that is striving to become even better. What became very clear, and most impressive to me, was their concern for and interest in students.

Their reasons and stimulus for action were both quantitative and qualitative: quantitative in the sense they believed many more students needed the opportunity of an excellent education not only in the sciences of management but also in an environment sustaining and enhancing personal faith and testimony; qualitative because our graduates need to have the best preparation in all of those things, to serve well not only in their business careers but particularly in their families, the church, and the communities in which they dwell.

We don’t know all of the good things that the family does, but we do see ripples throughout society of the tremendous positive influence of the Marriott family generally and of Bill and Dick specifically. We’re grateful to be their friends and associates.


Richard E. Marriott
We read in the papers today about the turmoil going on in the world. The situation we face today isn’t much different than what happened when my folks started their business. On 20 May 1927, Dad and Mom opened their root beer stand. That was eighteen months before the biggest stock market crash in history and before the Great Depression. The situation we face today isn’t pretty, but it doesn’t compare with what my twenty-eight-year-old father and my twenty-two-year-old mother faced in 1929: ten thousand bank failures, 30 percent unemployment, and manufacturing down to 52 percent.

How did they survive? Well, they survived by doing just what BYU teaches its students to do. They worked hard, they were creative, they found opportunities and seized them, and they were honest and caring in dealing with people. Dad and Mom worked really hard in that little root beer stand.

We don’t often hear about my mom; she was the chief financial officer of that $100-a-day root beer stand. She watched the waitresses to make sure they put the nickels in the cash register and not in their pockets. She washed the nickels at the end of the day, because they were all covered with root beer syrup. She put them in a brown paper bag and walked to the bank in the middle of the night in Washington, D.C., which I don’t recommend today.

When the weather turned bad, nobody wanted to buy ice cold root beer in a frosty mug. Mother went to the Mexican Embassy and got their recipe for hot tamales and chili, which she started cooking for the restaurant. For any of you who have eaten hot tamales, chili, and root beer, I don’t want to be in the same room with you. But she was there and working the whole time. She sat with my dad on the street corner counting traffic, to see where the next restaurant should be. She helped influence the D.C. government. When my father went in to get a curb cut for the first drive-in restaurant east of the Mississippi, they’d never heard of such a thing. But my mother’s stepfather happened to be Reed Smoot, and I think he talked to a few guys on the city council, and Dad got his curb cut so they could start the drive-in restaurant. That was key to their future success.

When the depression was over, they had a thriving chain of restaurants. The drive-in concept was a smash hit. It provided great food: steak sandwiches for twenty cents and root beer for a nickel. My parents took a special interest in and provided great financial opportunities for their employees and associates. My dad was one of the first to offer profit sharing to employees, and it produced a lot of wealthy, loyal associates.

I wish my folks could be here today to see this fabulous school. They both valued education, but the ultimate success of the great business my folks founded was not due to their educational background, it was due to their character, attitude, and drive. Their parents and teachers in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ingrained these qualities in my dad and mom from the time they were little kids.

These qualities are why BYU graduates are sought after by corporations throughout the world. That’s why the Marriott MBA program was voted No. 1 among regional schools by the Wall Street Journal in 2007 and ranked seventh among all U.S. business schools by BusinessWeek in February 2008. That’s why my family is so honored to have our name associated with this great school.

J.W. Marriott Jr.
My lifetime mentor and hero has been my father. But I can truthfully say I would not be here tonight, though, if it had not been for a wonderful teacher: Aaron Tracy. He was a teacher who became president of Weber College, and he was my dad’s mentor.

In 1921 when my father returned to Ogden from a mission in the eastern states, he found that his father had borrowed heavily on his sheep. My grandfather had paid $12–$14 a head, and they were worth only $3–$5; he was broke and would be working for the bank for the rest of his life. Dad knew that the only way out was an education. He had to learn how to study and how to think. He was willing to work hard, but he knew he couldn’t compete in the marketplace unless he had an education.

He needed a college degree and money to pay for it but didn’t have either one. He came home from his mission with $4 in his pocket. As for high school credits, he didn’t have any of those either. Every year he had to leave school to help on the farm or go to the Sierra Nevada range to herd his father’s sheep.

In Dad’s biography, Robert O’Brian wrote, “One afternoon, Bill went to see Aaron Tracy, and it was like finding a trail in the desert, a trail that would lead him out of the wasteland.” Tracy was an English professor at Weber. He always liked my dad, and he knew what a struggle it had been for him to get an education. He knew how important it was for him. He’d helped him get from sixth to seventh grade—I’m not sure my father ever went any further. Whatever education he got, he was self-taught.

But Aaron Tracy gave him an opportunity. He ignored his lack of a high school diploma and education and helped him earn his way and make up his schoolwork. Each day, Dad rose at 4 a.m. to study and to ride five miles to Ogden on his horse from Marriott Settlement and went to school. He had several jobs on campus, and when the day was over, he worked at the college bookstore until it closed. To add to this, he was elected student body president and was one of three returned missionaries the college hired to teach theology.

When he graduated from Weber, Aaron Tracy, who had been named president of the college, shook my father’s hand warmly and handed him his diploma. “Forward, my boy, forward,” he said. Tears came to my dad’s eyes. The first stage of the journey, perhaps the hardest, was behind him.

He worked the next two summers selling woolen goods to loggers in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, entered the University of Utah, and graduated in June 1926. The next year he married my mother, and they opened the root beer stand. I often wonder what would have happened if Aaron Tracy and Weber College had not given my dad a chance. What would have happened if he found it too difficult and quit?

When our family was given the opportunity to help endow the business school at BYU, I knew my dad, who had passed away a few years earlier, would have been thrilled and honored. He was always anxious to help young people get an education because his education gave him confidence to leave the farm and start a small business. Our family will always be grateful to my father’s mentor, Aaron Tracy, and for the millions of teachers like him who continue to reach out, encourage, and lift up young men and women seeking an opportunity to learn, grow, and serve.

Our entire family is thrilled to see this wonderful new building completed, for we know that many more students will be given an opportunity, just like my dad was almost ninety years ago.


Gary C. Cornia
It’s difficult, maybe even impossible, to express the school’s gratitude to Bill and Donna Marriott and Dick and Nancy Marriott for all they have done. For the past twenty years, the university has benefited from the use of the Marriott name on its school of management. How we have benefited may not neatly fit into some structured equation or a cost-benefit analysis, but I freely challenge anyone to find names that exceed the dignity and the distinction associated with J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott.

Lacking words to express our gratitude, I would like to make two promises to the Marriott family. To make these two promises, I return to the August 2008 commencement exercise, where Elder Richard G. Scott spoke. In his talk he offered observations on how we define and find success. As we would expect, he quoted ancient and modern prophets. He also referenced an observation made by J. Willard Marriott Sr. I quote from Elder Scott, “I share an insight for success from an individual from humble background who achieved exceptional spiritual and material attainment in this life. . . . namely, J. Willard Marriott Sr. He said, ‘Work and prayer are the two greatest words in the English language.’”

This leads to the first promise from the students, staff, and faculty of the Marriott School. We promise that Marriott School graduates will know how to work. Our second commitment is: We promise that Marriott School graduates will understand the importance of prayer. When we achieve these two promises, we not only improve our own lives but also honor the Marriott name. Bill and Dick, thank you for all you have done for us. We pledge to work as hard as you work and to pray as earnestly as you pray.


President Henry B. Eyring
President Gordon B. Hinckley had a tremendous feeling for the widow’s mite. He was concerned that we would never use a gift to the Lord for any purpose except what he thought the Lord would have. At the same time, he had another reason to have people make donations: it was to bless them.

President Monson will often say when he’s asking someone for something, “Would you like to put a shine on your soul today?” When he does that, be ready. That is what’s happened here. I would like to express for the First Presidency gratitude to all of you who have worked, conceived of, and financed this wonderful addition to Brigham Young University.

I think, however, it’s important to say why I think you did it. You did it because you had faith, like the widow who was putting in her mite, that it would be what the Lord would want. You were confident that what’s done at Brigham Young University is what the Lord would have done to give young people the capacity to work, to produce, and to be valuable.

One of the reasons I love this institution is that I’ve seen my children blessed here; I’ve seen other people’s children blessed here. It’s for that reason we are so grateful for all you have done to help a place devoted to the children of our Heavenly Father, to lift them up and give them ideals and capacities.