In 1990, the school hired G. Dale Weight to serve as dean, the same year he was removed as chief executive officer of the Benj. Franklin Savings and Loan after the thrift was seized by the government during the Savings and loan crisis. Weight remained dean until 1998. At that time Atkinson GSM had 184 students and 11 full-time faculty members. Tuition was $14,900 per year then and incoming students scored an average of 550 on the Graduate Management Admission Test. From 1998 to 2002, Atkinson was led by Dean Bryan Johnston. Johnston had been the interim president at Willamette and a member of the Oregon House of Representatives.