When School of Management dean Louis Lataif became the first Allen Questrom Professor and Dean, he said he began looking toward what the deanship meant for the future of the almost century-old school and its leaders.

“This gift was much less about me and more a permanent gift to recruit a successor,” Lataif said. “The person in the dean’s job will always be the Allen Questrom Dean and Professor.”

Donated by Allen Questrom, a 1964 SMG alum and former JC Penny CEO, the $4-million endowed deanship and professorship, the only endowed deanship at BU, will help Lataif and President Robert Brown “bring the university and school into a new dimension,” Questrom said.

“BU was very good to me in terms of my career,” Questrom said in an interview. “If I hadn’t gone to Boston University, I wouldn’t have gone into the retail business.”

“It does bring new recognition and prominence to the school,” Lataif said. “Not many schools have endowment for the dean’s chair. That’s very special.”

A portion of the donation, $600,000, will be spent over the next three years to hire more teaching and research assistants and offer more graduate-school scholarships, Lataif said.

“It’s a thrill and an honor,” he said. “I consider myself lucky to be the first [person to hold the position] of the chair.”

Questrom, who has discussed the gift with Lataif since the school’s 1992 building campaign, has also held senior positions at Barneys New York, Inc., Federated Department Stores, Inc. and Neiman Marcus.

“We’re delighted,” said SMG senior associate dean Michael Lawson. “Chaired professorship is a high honor.”

Questrom said he funded the deanship as a way to thank his late BU business professor, Alan Beckwith, for inspiring him to work in retail, according to September 2006 letter Questrom wrote to Lataif.

Questrom and his wife, Kelli Questrom, made the donation in a single payment at the end of December 2006, a rarity for a donation of that size, Lataif said.

“The reason I gave the money and had it under the dean is because I believe what [Lataif has] been able to do is take a business school and turn it into a significantly better school,” Questrom said.