2011
Posted by Joseph Phillips, Jr. on Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 10:22 AM PST
The start of 2012 is a good time to look back and recall the highlights of 2011. All in all, it was another good year for the Albers School!
First, our AACSB accreditation was extended for another five years. Given the high expectations of AACSB, reaccreditation is never a routine "ticket punch!"
We continued to do well in the rankings. Our part-time MBA program was ranked 52nd by Business Week and 59th by US News and World Report. Our Leadership EMBA was ranked 18th by US News, and our finance program 24th. For the first time, our MBA program was ranked in the Grey Pinstripes Top 100. Our undergraduate program was ranked 115th by US News, and our accounting and finance programs were in the US News Top 25. Business Week ranked our undergraduate program 4th in sustainability and 7th in business ethics.
We developed and launched our Health Leadership EMBA program, getting all the necessary approvals within a six month period and beginning to recruit in May for an August class. Now that is aggressive!
Our students showed they perform at a high level of accomplishment. Our SIFE team finished ninth in the nation and our Beta Alpha Psi chapter was one of only seven in the nation to receive the Gold Chapter Award. Our graduate students won the Pacific Northwest Case Competition and the Seattle Chartered Financial Analyst Institute Investment Research Challenge. Our Graduate Leadership Formation Specialization students did a stellar job in organizing the second annual Red Winged Leadership Award, presented to Global Visionaries.
Our faculty had an excellent year, as well. Rex Toh received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly and three faculty - Jot Yau, Carl Obermiller, and Greg Magnan - earned "Big Hit" recognition for their publications in top journals in their disciplines. The scholarship of all our faculty was highlighted with our first Celebration of Scholarship event in February. Of course, they are also continuing with their excellent work in the classroom!
We launched the Center for Business Ethics in June, which is supported by an endowment created by the donations of a number of generous benefactors. We also launched the PMI China Initiative, which will include a series of events exploring the economic integration of China and the US.
The Albers Executive Speaker Series had another good year, featuring leaders such as Jim Albaugh, CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Craig Jelinek, CEO of Costco Wholesale, Kimberly Harris, CEO of Puget Sound Energy, and Tun Channareth, Nobel Peace Prize winner.
On a personal level, contrary to popular belief, the launching of Dean Blog was not my top highlight of the year. That would have to be the April 1st edition of Dean Spam! :}