People and Places: February 2, 2021

  Amy Ostrom has been named the new interim dean of the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University in Tempe. Ostrom, the PetSmart Chair in Service Leadership, has been with the Carey School since 1996. She replaces Amy Hillman, who has stepped down and will return to the faculty. Hillman became dean of the Carey School in 2013 and has overseen the opening of a new building for the business school, the launch of new MBA options, and the achievement of a 150 million USD capital campaign.

The Johns Hopkins Carey Business School in Baltimore, Maryland, has chosen Richard R. Smith as vice dean for corporate and global partnerships. In this newly established role, Smith will develop and oversee Carey’s collaborations with other academic institutions and businesses. He also will serve as a professor of practice on the Carey Business School faculty. Before joining Carey, Smith was a professor of strategic management and deputy dean of programs at Singapore Management University, and he previously served as a senior partner with Accenture.

New Programs

Emlyon Business School in France is launching a new MSc in cybersecurity and defense management. The program will address current issues such as the increased risk of cyberattacks; the diffusion of terrorist threats across regions; the tensions and conflicts caused by unbalanced world powers; the political and economic inequalities that can drive extreme violence; and the power of social media to enflame that violence. The degree is open to students with a wide variety of academic backgrounds, including political science, engineering, business, and law.

Courses cover five blocks of competencies: geopolitics, innovation and business development, cybersecurity and technological project management, strategy and analysis, and leadership and ethics. The program will be delivered with the input of security and defense experts, including France’s Ministry of the Interior, Michelin, Sécurité et Défense magazine, and IT company Sopra Steria. The 18-month program is taught in English and includes internships that last from four to six months.

The University of Illinois’ Gies College of Business in Champaign is launching the Disruption Lab, where interdisciplinary teams of students will collaborate on extracurricular projects built around emerging technologies such as virtual reality and blockchain. The students will work to deliver viable products or solutions that could help businesses successfully navigate disruption. Through Disruption Lab events, students and corporate partners will be able to participate in technology training sessions on topics such as blockchain, automated machine learning, and robotics. Ernst & Young LLP will support the lab as a founding corporate member.

The University of New Haven’s Pompea College of Business in Connecticut has created a master’s degree program in esports business. The online program, which can be completed in one year, is led by assistant professor Jason Chung, executive director of esports. The program covers topics such as esports governance, digital marketing, corruption and integrity, and athlete health and wellness.

Collaborations

WGU Labs Inc., an affiliate of online nonprofit Western Governors University, has announced that its Accelerator has entered a partnership with Riff Analytics. The Accelerator at WGU Labs provides research, market development, and product enhancement services to early-stage education businesses. Riff Analytics builds tools that use AI to improve how people communicate during virtual interactions, a capability that has become even more essential during the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the partnership, the Accelerator will measure Riff Analytics’ impact within various learning communities and share these findings within the postsecondary education market.

Adelphi University in Garden City, New York, and Farmingdale State College, also in New York state, have launched a partnership to offer more students the option to pursue master’s-level education. After completing prerequisite courses and maintaining a minimum grade point average, Farmingdale students now can continue their graduate studies at Adelphi in four master’s programs: business analytics, computer science, general psychology (with a human resource management concentration), and sports management (both in-person and online). The program is designed so that specific undergraduate courses satisfy several master’s requirements, which helps students reduce the time and cost of attaining their master’s degrees. There is a plan to offer Farmingdale students pathways to pursue additional master's degree programs in the future, says Steve Everett, Adelphi’s provost and executive vice president.

Grants and Donations

KPMG U.S. Foundation’s Racial Equity Action Fund has awarded 100,000 USD to the National Black MBA Association. NBMBAA provides scholarships to minority undergraduate and graduate students, as well as mentorship to young people who aspire to be leaders in professional fields. The donation will support financial literacy training, undergraduate scholarships, and the NBMBAA’s Leaders of Tomorrow program for high school students.

New Centers and Facilities

The Steers Center for Global Real Estate at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business in Washington, D.C., has launched the Steers ESG Solutions Group, which was established through a 3.2 million USD gift from alumni Robert and Lauren Steers. The group will explore the implications of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues on global business, particularly commercial real estate. It will be led by Steers Center faculty and staff with support from Steers Advisory Services, a program that involves undergraduate and MBA real estate students in real-time projects and research. The center’s research will inform learning activities for both undergraduate and MBA students.

Other News

Nottingham Trent University (NTU) in the United Kingdom has launched a free open-source Carbon Literacy Toolkit designed to help universities tackle the climate emergency, reduce emissions, and boost student employability. In the daylong NTU Carbon Literary Course for Universities, learners explore high-impact climate solutions and develop familiarity with En-ROADS, a climate change solutions simulator. Once learners have mastered the course’s concepts, they can train university staff and students in climate literacy. The Toolkit is modeled after a carbon training literacy program designed by Nottingham Business School in collaboration with the United Nations’ Principles for Management Education (PRME) Champions, Oikos International, and The Carbon Literacy Project. Successful participants are certified as carbon literate by the Carbon Literacy Project.

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has published an updated resource that enables organizations to track their efforts in meeting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). “Linking the SDGs and the GRI Standards” gives a breakdown of each of the targets listed under the 17 SDGs and provides tools for integrating the SDGs in reporting. It also offers reporting examples from around the world.

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