When the search for a new president failed to produce a candidate from outside campus, the board of regents was advised by Knutson to appoint Mark A. Mathews, the chair of the business administration and economics department. As Mathews was a Presbyterian, the institution's by-laws had to be changed in order to permit him to hold the office. Mathews became acting college president in 1972. Under his fiscal management, the college reversed the deficit trend and a longer period of financial stability and growth followed his tenure. Also in 1972, he developed the award-winning Business Management Forum which was designed to build bridges to the business community. The Forum, which is now named the Mathews Leadership Forum in honor of President Mathews, brought a large number of business leaders to the campus. After a decade of financial deficits, one of the first steps of Mathews' administration was to install a budget planning process which involved the input from all segments of faculty departments. He chose A. Dean Buchanan to guide the school's financial program. Buchanan, who had guided the financial program at Pacific Lutheran University for eleven years, was a graduate of University of California, Berkeley and noted in the field of college fiscal management. President Mathews later formed the Committee for New Dimensions which reached into the business community in nearby Los Angeles. Efforts were also made at recruiting corporate leadership to the board of regents.