Business Dean Hopkins at Bush Economic Forum

Thomas Hopkins, dean of the College of Business, was invited to participate in President George Bush's Economic Forum in Waco, Texas, in August.

Thomas Hopkins

Hopkins was invited by the White House to participate on the panel discussion, “Small Business and Smarter Regulation.” Last year, Hopkins co-authored a report on the impact of regulatory costs on small firms commissioned by the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy. The report concluded that, in 2000, Americans spent $843 billion to comply with federal regulations, which equals 8 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product.

In a follow-up article in The New York Times, Hopkins noted that Vice President Dick Cheney was “surprisingly quiet,” allowing the president to do the majority of the talking. Small business owners stuck to macro-economic issues, Hopkins told the newspaper, and corporate CEOs kept a low profile.

Since 1978, Hopkins has made more than a dozen appearances before federal officials in the United States and Canada to discuss issues related to regulatory costs and reform. Prior to joining RIT in 1989, Hopkins held senior management positions in the Ford, Carter and Reagan administrations, including deputy administrator for information and regulatory affairs in the Office of Management and Budget.