People and Places: November 7, 2023
Transitions
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() Honors and AwardsThe Graduate Business Curriculum Roundtable has announced winners for the 2023 Innovator Award, which is sponsored by BusinessCAS. In the Early Stage Innovation category, the winners are Pennsylvania State University’s Smeal College of Business and the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. In the category of Leadership in Graduate Business Education Curriculum, the winner is Valerie Suslow of Johns Hopkins University. The Innovator Award, which was created in 2011, raises awareness of curricular and co-curricular improvements in MBA and specialized master’s programs. New ProgramsWits Business School at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg is launching a new MBA in the field of healthcare leadership. The program targets medical professionals such as doctors, nurses, and pharmacists, as well as managers and administrators. Among the 12 core courses are classes on healthcare economics, entrepreneurship in healthcare, managing the healthcare value chain, and ethics in healthcare leadership. Students in the program also participate in the Leadership Quest, a personal development journey that is focused on ethics and continuous learning. In addition, they join a global study tour to gain exposure to international best practices in healthcare management. The new MBA program, which welcomes its first cohort in March 2024, will be offered in a hybrid format on a part-time basis. Grants and DonationsIn October, the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business in Charlottesville received a 50 million USD gift from alumni David and Kathleen LaCross. A year ago, the LaCrosses had given the school 44 million USD. Because the university provided 6 million USD in matching funds in 2022 and 7 million USD in 2023, the combined donation of 107 million USD has become the largest in Darden’s history. The LaCrosses’ initial contribution launched the Artificial Intelligence Initiative at Darden; the new gift will expand funding to the school’s Institute for Business in Society and the Olsson Center for Applied Ethics. The money also will help pay for a residential college at the business school. David LaCross is a fintech entrepreneur. The College of Business at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls has received a 25 million USD naming gift from David Wilson. The David W. Wilson College of Business will be the first named college at the university. The contribution also establishes the Wilson Endowment for Integrity and Excellence and the Wilson Scholars Fund. Previously, Wilson provided funding that created the Wilson Chair in Business Ethics, which was founded in 1999. Wilson, an alumnus, is chairman and CEO of Wilson Automotive. The A.B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University in New Orleans has received a 5 million USD gift from Todd and Gina Schwartz. The money will fund programs and a building renovation to create the Schwartz Family Center for Experiential Business Learning, which provides students with opportunities to work with corporations on market analysis and consultancy projects. Todd Schwartz, an alum, is the founder and CEO of fintech platform OppFi. Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., has received a 5 million USD gift from Ted Leonsis, CEO of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, and his family. The donation will provide permanent support to the Leonsis Family Entrepreneurship Prize “Bark Tank” Pitch Competition held at the McDonough School of Business. The money also will establish the Leonsis Family Venture Development Program to support student startups, incubator programs, and other entrepreneurial programming across the university. Since Bark Tank’s inception, 975,000 USD in prizes have been awarded to 60 different ventures; those ventures have gone on to raise more than 295 million USD and create more than 1,000 jobs. The C. Aubrey Smith Foundation has donated 1.35 million USD in endowment funds to support students and faculty members in the accounting department within the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. The gift will enhance both the C. Aubrey Smith Accounting Education Excellence Fund and the C. Aubrey Smith Center for Auditing Education and Research. It also will support student recruitment, faculty research, conferences, and scholarships. Smith served on the school’s department of accounting faculty for 48 years; he retired in 1972 and died in 1994. Centers and Facilities
If you have news of interest to share with the business education community, please send press releases, relevant images, or other information to AACSB Insights at [email protected]. |