People and Places: March 16, 2021

Transitions

Linda U. Hadley, dean of the Turner College of Business at Columbus State University in Georgia, has announced she will retire July 1 after 30 years at the university. Hadley, who also holds the Bill Heard Endowed Chair in Finance, has been recognized by the school for her contributions in teaching, administration, and service. During her deanship, Hadley shepherded the business school through achieving accreditation from AACSB. She currently is chair of AACSB’s board of directors.

In January, Barnali Gupta started her new role as Edward Jones Dean of the Chaifetz School of Business at Saint Louis University. Gupta joins the Chaifetz School following more than 27 years with the Farmer School of Business at Miami University in Ohio. There, she became the first female full professor of economics in 2006 and the first associate dean of international origin in 2016.

In January, Rowena Ortiz-Walters was named the next dean of the Greehey School of Business at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas. Ortiz-Walters currently serves as dean and professor of management in the School of Business and Economics at the State University of New York in Plattsburgh. Previously, she was a professor and department chair at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. Ortiz-Walters begins her tenure as the first Latina dean of the Greehey School of Business in June 2021.

New Programs

In September, ESMT Berlin is launching its first completely online program, a global MBA. Decision making, analytics, and innovation are at the core of the program, which students can complete in two to five years. Once students finish the opening module, they can book other modules in any order, which allows them to customize their learning. While students are not required to travel, they are strongly encouraged to join the Berlin Experience Week in the middle of the program. Students also can choose to take online electives with partner schools from the Global Network for Advanced Management.

Seattle University’s Albers School of Business and Economics has launched an MBA in sports and entertainment management in collaboration with seven Seattle sports and entertainment companies. Two founding partners—the Seattle Kraken and Seattle Mariners—have joined forces with the Seattle Storm, Seattle Sounders FC, Seattle Seahawks, Oak View Group, and Climate Pledge Arena to provide fellowships and job opportunities for students. The curriculum will focus on venue management and operation; venue sustainability for sporting organizations and entertainment events; diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); and anti-racism in sports and entertainment management. The school also will provide DEI professional development opportunities for faculty members and create an advisory group led by students, faculty, and team partners who are black, indigenous, and people of color.

The Project Management Institute (PMI), an association for project professionals, has launched an online course dedicated to business transformation. Organizational Transformation: Foundation includes nine interactive modules that cover the basics of implementing operational and cultural change within organizations. Participants will learn the five building blocks necessary for organizational transformation; best practices to shift people, mindsets, and performance; and ways to blend business strategy with project management skills. Upon completing the course, participants have the option of earning a microcredential through a 30-question exam.

The University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) has welcomed the first cohort of participants to the Corteva Agriscience Women in Agriculture program. The 12-month curriculum is designed to equip 30 women with the entrepreneurial, business, and leadership skills to operate their agricultural enterprises more effectively. Run through GIBS’ Entrepreneurship Development Academy, the program features in-class and online interactions, as well as customized workshops on topics such as leading self, developing entrepreneurial competencies, and farming for the future. It is part of Corteva’s larger effort to collaborate with institutions and communities worldwide to empower women working in the agricultural sector. According to the company’s research, women comprise more than 50 percent of farmers worldwide, but earn less and experience higher rates of unemployment than their male peers. “We are living in challenging times, and agriculture is central to many women’s livelihoods across the globe,” says Miranda Hosking, executive director for social education at GIBS. “Improvements in the way women run their farming businesses [are] crucial to improving global food security.”

Collaborations

IÉSEG School of Management in Paris, the Sheffield Business School at Sheffield Hallam University in the United Kingdom, and IQS School of Management in Barcelona have partnered to offer the European Business Bachelor program. In the new program, students will live and learn in three different countries over four years. At the end, students will graduate with a degree from each institution.

The UK Centre for Greening Finance & Investment (CGFI) is being launched in the United Kingdom with the help of five universities and two other partners. The goal is to put environmental issues at the heart of global finance by creating a center that will advise lenders, investors, and insurers on how to support a greener global economy. The 10 million GBP (approximately 13.9 million USD) center will be funded by the National Environment Research Council and Innovate UK, both part of UK Research and Innovation. Partners in the center include the University of Oxford, the University of Bristol, the University of Leeds, the University of Reading, and Imperial College, as well as the Alan Turing Institute’s Satellite Applications Catapult and the Science and Technologies Facilities Council. Two physical hubs will help companies export products that can make global finance more sustainable, including tools that assess storm and flood risk or measure pollution created by organizations. CGFI also will work with organizations such as the Chartered Bankers Institute and Chartered Financial Analysts UK to ensure that every professional financial decision takes climate change into account. The CGFI will be led by Ben Caldecott of Oxford’s Sustainable Finance Programme.

New Centers and Facilities

Earlier this month, the University of Dayton in Ohio opened the Hub, a 95,000-square foot innovation center in downtown Dayton. Located in the historic and long-vacant Arcade building, the Hub includes shared and private office spaces, meeting rooms, conference areas, pop-up retail opportunities, learning labs, and classrooms. Through the Hub, faculty, students, and staff at the university will be able to work closely with local entrepreneurs and help revitalize the city. In addition to hosting university classes once public health conditions allow, the Hub will offer community programming such as the university’s business plan competition, small business accelerators, programs, and the Dayton Arcade Entrepreneur Academy.

Donations and Scholarships

The Chubb Charitable Foundation has established the Chubb Robert M. Hernandez Scholarship for undergraduates studying risk management and insurance at Georgia State University’s Robinson College of Business in Atlanta. The scholarship will provide financial support and advancement opportunities for diverse students, who will also be considered for employment opportunities at Chubb. The scholarship is named for Robert M. Hernandez, who served on the Chubb board of directors for nearly 35 years.

NEOMA Business School in France and luxury champagne company Maison Veuve Clicquot have created a scholarship program that will finance tuition fees for 10 female master in management students per year. The scholarships will be awarded on the basis of social, financial, and academic criteria. Scholarship students also will meet members of the Maison Veuve Clicquot’s management committee throughout their studies and have opportunities to receive advice concerning their professional projects.

Other News

The University of Glasgow has announced plans to cut carbon emissions from business travel by 7.5 percent each year over the next decade. Before the pandemic, business travel accounted for 22 percent of the university’s annual carbon footprint, or around 13,194 tonnes carbon dioxide equivalents (tCO2e). The university is aiming to shrink that total footprint to 5,597 tCO2e by 2030 by helping staff and postgraduate researchers make more sustainable travel choices.

University staff will be encouraged to avoid travel wherever possible, choose public ground transport over flying, consider their transport options during funding applications, and maximize the outcomes of unavoidable trips. This is one of the first recommendations implemented from the Glasgow Green: The University of Glasgow’s Response to the Climate Emergency strategy document, launched in November of last year. The goal is for the school to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

Florida International University in Miami has partnered with Barnes & Noble College, which operates college bookstores in the United States, to offer students a cost-effective alternative to purchasing books. Starting this fall, the Panther Book Pack will allow undergraduate students to rent all required course materials for a reduced, per-semester subscription charge of 20 USD per credit hour. For full-time students taking 15 credits, the subscription model costs 300 USD, compared to the average 675 USD students spend on course materials. School officials expect that the Panther Book Pack will help bridge the learning gap that often occurs at the beginning of a semester, when some students might not have the funds to purchase books. They also expect the program to lead to greater equity across the student body by making course materials more affordable.