People and Places: January 2025
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New ProgramsBabson College in Massachusetts has designed a new Doctor of Business Administration program. The 33-month program, which begins in fall 2025, is tailored to professionals with one to two decades of experience in leadership roles, empowering participants with academic research skills and the tools to address today’s complex business challenges. The program further aims to prepare graduates for a variety of career paths, whether they choose to remain in their current roles and implement significant changes or explore new projects. Simon Business School at the University of Rochester in New York has redesigned its master’s programs to accelerate time to graduation, increase specialist study options for participants, and offer competitive pricing. In addition to adding core AI content across all MS programs, Simon has launched a full-time Master of Science in artificial intelligence in business program designed to equip students with the technical, strategic, and hands-on skills needed to harness AI for business value. Further, students enrolled in the updated MS in finance program can specialize in the areas of investment management, corporate financial strategy, and financial technology. To better accommodate learners' needs, all full-time MS programs will now begin in August. Sevin Yeltekin, dean of Simon Business School, also announced that the school has reduced the tuition for its core full-time MS programs by more than 10,000 (USD) for each program. Starting in August 2025, the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will offer a new Master of Science in management degree designed for candidates who haven’t previously studied business. Topics in the 10-month program will include accounting, finance, marketing, analytics, economics, strategy, leadership, operations, and business communication. Learners have the opportunity to choose a concentration in finance or marketing to deepen their expertise. The school will also offer experiential learning projects, networking opportunities, and workshops with their career services team. Hult International Business School is expanding its undergraduate programs at the school’s Dubai campus. The Bachelor in Business Administration degree will start in September and provide participants with a foundational understanding of how business disciplines work together. Students also have study options for marketing and entrepreneurship. CollaborationsThe Sasin School of Management at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand and Zhejiang University’s School of Management in China signed a memorandum of understanding to deepen collaboration, including the joint opening of a regional business center in Bangkok. Launched in November, the Zhejiang University School of Management–Sasin School of Management Regional Business Center aims to bring new vitality to academic and cultural exchanges in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and beyond. The schools will establish exchange opportunities and explore the development of business education, dual degrees, and executive training programs for managers and entrepreneurs in the region. The partnership will also encompass joint research projects aimed at advancing business and management education. The Dolan School of Business at Fairfield University in Connecticut teamed with James Ricci, the chief marketing officer at local Italian restaurant Romanacci, to develop experiential learning opportunities by leveraging community partnerships. In the semesterlong project, students enrolled in the school’s social media marketing course were tasked with creating and executing a multiplatform social media campaign for the restaurant, which has five locations in Fairfield County, and were responsible for tracking content performance, including metrics such as likes, comments, and website traffic. As a result of the successful collaboration, Romanacci offered two students an internship for spring 2025 semester. The Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) is partnering with the Office of Executive Education at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business in College Park to give members enhanced access to continuing education that will help them progress in their careers. As part of the partnership, the Smith School will offer discounted rates on open-enrollment courses for AFP members. Some course topics include artificial intelligence, Python programming, data analysis and decision-making, digital transformation, and financial accounting. Centers and FacilitiesThe School of Business at The American University in Cairo in Egypt was renamed the Onsi Sawiris School of Business. The name honors the legacy of the late Onsi Sawiris, a titan of business in the Middle East and founder of the Orascom Group, and represents the largest philanthropic gift in the university’s history. The gift was a collaborative donation from the NNS Foundation, the Naguib Sawiris Charitable Fund, Naguib Samih Sawiris, the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development, and Orascom Construction. A portion of the money will also support scholarships, a professorship in artificial intelligence/data science, and visiting faculty and student exchange programs with U.S. universities, including the University of Chicago. The gift has an estimated value of more than 30 million USD. Grants and DonationsThe Chapman University in Orange, California, has received a 5 million USD gift from Alex Hayden to establish the Alexander E. Hayden School of Real Estate at the George L. Argyros College of Business and Economics. The school will help to enhance faculty recruitment efforts, build stronger partnerships with industry, and provide expanded resources for academic programs, including the MS in real estate degree. Alex Hayden, an alum of Argyros College, is a founding partner and vice chairman at CBRE, a commercial real estate and investment company, which provides global advisory and strategic planning services to some of the largest companies in the world. The School of Management at HEC Paris has received a 10 million EUR commitment from Andrea Pignataro, an Italian financier, and his organization, the ION Foundation. The new gift will endow the ION Management Science Lab within the Deep Tech Center. The gift will support research aimed at understanding the impact of mentorship on performance and innovation, helping to foster a collaborative environment between academia, industry, and nonprofits. The lab will closely collaborate with the existing ION Management Science Lab at Università Bocconi in Milan, Italy, and at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, which was previously featured in our September People and Places article. If you have news of interest to share with the business education community, please submit press releases, relevant images, or other information to AACSB Insights via our online submission form at aacsb.edu/insights/articles/submissions/guidelines. |