September 8, 2009
Dear Members of the Babson Community:
The fall semester is now well underway ... and we’re off to a great start! I want to welcome to campus the Undergraduate Class of 2013, our transfer students, the Graduate Class of 2011, and our new evening and Fast Track MBA students. A special welcome also goes to the new members of our faculty and staff.
Let’s begin with a brief recap of some of the highlights of the summer.
It was a fast-paced summer on campus ... with a number of firsts for the College.
The Summer Venture Program—a new 10-week summer intensive experience for Babson student entrepreneurs—was a great success. Twenty-three teams of undergraduate and graduate students worked on their entrepreneurial ventures. Participation in the program was competitive. For those who were selected, the program provided work space, mentors, speakers, shared resources, networking opportunities and a “demo day” that drew nearly 50 professional investors and 75 other attendees. The Boston Globe provided great visibility for Babson in its profile of the program, Summer sessions get down to business: Babson program aids student start-ups, appearing in its print and online editions.
Three hundred and sixty-five visiting students from 17 countries—a record number—were on campus this summer for courses, primarily in one of our global entrepreneurship programs. The largest number of students were from Brazil, followed by Peru, Chile, Venezuela and Mexico. For the first time, we brought together students from different countries in almost all the classes; in previous years, visiting students in summer classes were grouped by country.
Babson’s Center for Women’s Leadership and the Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College partnered with Dar Al Hekma College in Saudi Arabia and ICF International (a consulting firm) to deliver The U.S. Saudi Women’s Forum on Social Entrepreneurship on the Babson campus. This represented the second of three modules to 30 undergraduate women from Saudi Arabia; the first module was launched earlier this year in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Faculty from all of the partnering schools worked with students to refine the skills they need to create plans for entrepreneurial ventures, with an emphasis on social ventures. The Boston Globe online provided favorable coverage in the article Saudi women taking part in Babson forum.
On August 24, 18 Babson juniors and seniors began a week of classes as preparation for a semester-long academic experience in Russia and China. This represents the first time that Babson faculty will be traveling with our undergraduate students for a full Babson semester abroad (4 weeks in Russia, 7 weeks in China.) The program, known as BRIC (Brazil, Russia, China, and India), is designed to give students an opportunity to see firsthand the impact of leading emerging economies on the global economy. It is part of an effort by Babson to provide a full range of different and unique opportunities for our students to have a global experience.
We announced our collaboration agreement involving Babson, Wellesley College, and Franklin W. Olin College, offering the prospect of exciting joint opportunities. Our partnership discussions began around how we could enhance the academic opportunities available to our students by providing broader access to the other schools—then more possibilities quickly became apparent. The colleges plan to explore initiatives for expanded academic programs available across all three colleges, joint sponsorship of speakers and conferences, more business and service collaborations, and new joint research projects. The Boston Globe online provided favorable coverage in the article 3 colleges to offer combined curricula: Wellesley, Olin, Babson team up.
Our capital campaign reached a new milestone this summer—the halfway mark of our goal—with $100 million raised. On July 1, gifts from more than 13,000 donors to Babson Rising, the largest campaign in the College’s history, vaulted past $100 million. I want to thank everyone who has supported this incredible effort through your generous contributions. Our success would not be possible without you.
We’ve moved from strategy development to strategy implementation planning.
Among the many other activities taking place on campus during the past three months, task forces led by faculty, and supported by staff, have been hard at work developing strategy implementation plans in key areas, which include plans for exciting initiatives. One important initiative, already underway, is our Global Entrepreneurship Education Network (GEEN).
GEEN is a new network of global partners—institutions of higher education from around the world that share our vision of educational, economic, and societal change—centered on the power of entrepreneurial thought and action and closely linking human values with profit. GEEN partners will collaborate on (1) cutting-edge educational content and curricula and (2) developing a cadre of faculty with global exposure and enormous depth of experience to create and deliver innovative and impactful education programs. As the founding member of this global alliance, Babson will lead development of curricula and will use the resources raised through partnership fees to support Babson programs that are central to GEEN.
Building the framework for a new operating model for the College
GEEN, the growth of our undergraduate student body, the expansion of our MBA Fast Track program—incrementally on campus and, more substantially, into new markets off campus—as well as the availability of new executive and non-degree education programs clearly will strengthen and renew Babson’s leadership in entrepreneurial education and our academic reputation around the world. At the same time, they will provide important new sources of revenue for long-term investments in vital areas, such as faculty development, innovative curricula, and world-class co-curricular student activities.
Babson has been characteristically entrepreneurial during this economic recession in finding short-term sources of revenue to compensate for both the endowment declines that all colleges and universities have faced during the past year and the inherent limitations in our current operating model. The College has been impacted less severely than most schools, but we still need more stable sources of revenue with a much higher level of predictability and reliability.
This fall I will engage the community in discussions about a framework for a new operating model for the College. We want to capitalize on what we do best and, most importantly, strengthen our core programs that are at the center of Babson’s future growth. The framework is intended to provide new revenue streams to enable us to do what is envisioned in our strategy and to aggressively pursue the action steps developed by our implementation task forces. I look forward to sharing the framework with you and to getting your feedback on this topic of great importance to Babson’s future.
To lead new technology for our strategy, we redefined the position of Chief Information Officer (CIO).
Our strategic initiatives, especially those around curriculum renewal and the expansion of the Fast Track Program, will require the College to strengthen its capacity in the area of information technology. Therefore, we have initiated a search for a Chief Information Officer (CIO), who will provide the next level of leadership for these activities.
Mary Rose, Vice President of Administration, was given the responsibilities of CIO in 2002—and she has done a first-rate job of overseeing our IT infrastructure and the Library. Going forward, Mary will be the Vice President of Administration and Operations. One of Mary’s new responsibilities will be spearheading our joint administrative work with Franklin W. Olin College and Wellesley College, specifically looking at opportunities for collaboration.
Our newest students are already immersed in their Babson experience.
Undergraduate Class of 2013: Courses began on September 2 for one of the largest, and one of the strongest, incoming Classes in Babson’s history. While not immune to the challenges posed by the economy, for the second consecutive year, we received more than 4,000 applications for admission to the undergraduate program and enrolled a record 471 students in the Class of 2013.
Sixty-five percent of the students come from outside New England, representing 32 U.S. states and territories; 43 percent are women, 29 percent multicultural, and 27 percent international from 42 countries. Throughout the entire undergraduate school this year, there are now more of each of these populations enrolled than at any point in the College’s history.
Graduate Programs: Over the past few months we have again brought in large classes in our full-time MBA programs: our One-Year program enrolled a record 87 students, and our Two- Year MBA enrolled 166 students.
Our Two-Year program, the Class of 2011, consists of 36 percent international students and 32 percent women (our second highest percentage in the last 8 years). The rate of admitted students, now 42 percent, continues our greater selectivity of students year over year.
The MS in Global Entrepreneurship, our newest program and a collaboration with EM Lyon in France and Zhejiang University in China, will welcome over 60 students this fall. The program starts with a semester in France, moves to China and will then finish at Babson in the summer of 2010.
Our new faculty members bring a breadth of experience and expertise to Babson.
This year we welcomed 13 new members to the ranks of full-time faculty. They are a very talented group of teachers and scholars, as you can see from a brief summary of their academic credentials:
Robert H. Carver, Visiting Professor of Statistics, is Professor of Business Administration at Stonehill College, where he has taught courses in the decision sciences, information systems, management, and public policy. Professor Carver visited at Babson for a semester in 2001 and has been a member of the adjunct faculty at the International Business School at Brandeis since 2004.
Laura Foote, Visiting Lecturer in Business Communications, has taught Globalization, Corporate Finance, Marketing, and Business Ethics to international business students at the EF International Language School in Boston. Professor Foote holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a MATESL from Simmons College, School of Education.
Mary Gentile, Adjunct Lecturer, is Director of Giving Voice to Values, launched by the Aspen Institute and Yale School of Management, with ongoing support from Babson College. She was previously at Harvard Business School. Her pioneering curriculum for values-driven leadership was featured in The New York Times, The Financial Times, and The Harvard Business Review, and there are many business school pilots globally. She is responsible for case writing related to the Lewis Initiative.
Sylvia J. Martin, Visiting Assistant Professor of Media Studies, is completing her dissertation in Anthropology from University of California Irvine. Her dissertation, Fantasy at Work: The Culture of Production in the Hollywood and Hong Kong Media Industries, lies at the intersection of anthropology, media studies, and cultural studies.
James Morrison, Visiting Lecturer in Business Communications, has taught managerial communication at Harvard Business School, the John F. Kennedy School of Government, the Sloan School of Management, and Brandeis University, as well as serving as a writing consultant in Babson’s two-year MBA program. More recently, he was the Graduate Program Director in Organizational and Corporate Communication at Emerson College.
Melissa Manwaring, Visiting Lecturer in Management and Director of Institutional Assessment, has taught graduate level negotiation courses since 2002 as an adjunct instructor in Babson’s Evening and Fast Track MBA programs, at Harvard Extension School, and at Simmons College. From 2001-09, she served as Director of Curriculum Development at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, where she co-founded the negotiation pedagogy initiative.
Kankana Mukherjee, Assistant Professor of Economics, received her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Economics from the University of Connecticut. She has taught at Clarkson University, University of Connecticut, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Her principal research interest is in the area of production and efficiency analysis, and she has applied her research to the banking industry, manufacturing sector, and health care industry.
Vincent Onyemah, Assistant Professor of Marketing, earned his Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Management from INSEAD, France. He also holds an MBA degree from IESE Business School, University of Navarra, Spain and a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. His principal area of teaching and research is Personal Selling and Sales Management.
Ganesan Shankaranarayanan, Assistant Professor of Information Technology Management, has a research focus on data modeling, data and knowledge management, and data quality management. He has taught a variety of courses, including advanced courses in data management and systems design. Last year he was a recipient of the Computer World Laureate for the innovative design of a graduate course in systems design and data management.
Rosa Slegers, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, has a B.A. in philosophy and in classics from Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen in the Netherlands. She received an M.A. in philosophy and an M.A. in literary theory from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Fordham University. Before coming to Babson, she was Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Centre College in Kentucky.
Keith Wilcox, Assistant Professor of Marketing and the Joseph R. Weintraub Term Chair in Marketing, has taught Marketing Strategy, Marketing Principles, and Marketing Research at the undergraduate level and Marketing Management at the graduate level. His research focuses on consumer self-control in health and money decisions. Other research interests include counterfeit and luxury brand consumption.
Ann Winslow, Visiting Lecturer, Technology, Operations and Information Management, received her Doctorate of Business Administration from Harvard Business School. Her dissertation research focused on what determines the successful adoption of new technology in hospitals. Her current research is concerned with modeling and measuring learning curves in organizations.
Yasuhiro Yamakawa, Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship, received his Bachelor of Laws from Keio University (Tokyo), his M.B.A. in Strategic Management from Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management (Claremont, CA) and his Ph.D. in Entrepreneurship at the School of Management, University of Texas at Dallas. Before his doctoral studies, he spent eight years working in Japan’s utility and telecommunication industries where he engaged in corporate venturing activities and entrepreneurial start-ups.
We also welcome our talented part-time faculty members (some of whom joined us last spring) who bring a tremendous wealth of practical experience to the classroom: Helena Alfonzo, Lecturer, Arts and Humanities; Dov Biran, Lecturer, Technology, Operations, and Information Management (TOIM); Tom Buttacavoli, Lecturer, Accounting and Law; Michael Carenzo, Lecturer, Accounting and Law; Ken Demma, Lecturer, Marketing; David Dinwoodey, Lecturer, Accounting and Law; Jennifer Ellis, Lecturer, (TOIM); John Garvey, Lecturer, Marketing; Dan Isenberg, Professor of Management Practice, Entrepreneurship; Donald James, Lecturer, Arts and Humanities; Eithne Johnson, Lecturer, History and Science; Nancy Lee-Jones, Lecturer, Arts and Humanities; Ray Marcinowski, Lecturer, Entrepreneurship; Rachel May, Lecturer, Arts and Humanities; Sandra Metraux, Lecturer, Marketing; Diane Mulcahy, Lecturer, Entrepreneurship; Marie Natoli, Lecturer, Accounting and Law; Keri Pearlson, Lecturer, Fast Track, Portland; Asheen Phansey, Lecturer, Entrepreneurship; Thomas Piper, Lecturer, Accounting and Law, Finance; Myron (Marty) Ross, Lecturer, Math and Science; Aaron Shimoff, Lecturer, Accounting and Law; and John Whitman, Lecturer, Entrepreneurship.
Seven new trustees will join our Board of Trustees in October.
At the October Board meeting, we will welcome seven new trustees—an exceptional group of business leaders who bring tremendous experience at the top. What we were looking for in our new Board members was additional expertise in the areas of finance, investments, and solidifying our stake in entrepreneurship and global leadership. These individuals meet—and exceed—our expectations on all these fronts.
Three are “serial” entrepreneurs; that is, founders of multiple businesses—Kay Koplovitz, Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs ’01, Founder of USA Network and currently Chairman of the Board of Liz Claiborne Inc.; Tim DeMello ’81, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Spotlight Media; and Frank Fischer MP’06, CEO of NeuroPace. Junichi Murata M’60, H’92, and Babson Medal recipient ’07, Chairman of Murata Machinery, based in Kyoto Japan; and Fred Kiang ’70, M’75, Founder of Sunrise Duty Free Ltd., the only privately operated duty-free business in China, are recognized for their knowledge of global business, at a time when global perspectives and a deep understanding of Asian markets will be more important than ever to the College. Mike Angelakis, ’86, CFO of Comcast Corporation, and Martha Vorlicek ’81, Managing Director, COO, and CFO of HarbourVest Partners, bring their extensive expertise to the Board as reflected in their accomplishments and track records in finance and investments.
Save the Dates!
Back to Babson (B2B), October 1-3, will be the first major event on campus this fall. The weekend will feature the Alumni Leadership Recognition Program, Alumni College, Class Reunions, the Student Homecoming Competition, Alumni Games, the New England Harvest Festival, Biz Connect, the Babson Association of Women MBAs Affinity Program, a Multicultural Affinity Discussion, and an array of other activities. Our alumni Career Affinity Groups (CAGs) have also lined up sessions on “hot” topics. The Babson Alumni Technology Council session will be on “Monetizing the Mob: Using Social Media to Engage your Market;” and the Consumer Products and Retail CAG will present a CEO Roundtable: “Creating Best-Selling Brands That Drive Long-Term Growth.”
We had a strong turnout last year ... and this year should be even larger. All of you are invited to join in what promises to be a terrific weekend for everyone in the community. For more details on Alumni College and all of the B2B homecoming and reunion activities.
Family and Friends Weekend 2009 will take place from October 15-18—and what a weekend it will be! The Babson community will gather together in a number of different ways: we will celebrate Founder’s Day, which honors Roger W. Babson and our commitment to Babson’s core values as reflected in everything we do at the College—especially in entrepreneurship, education, philanthropy.
Watch for upcoming information on the annual Alumni Entrepreneur Hall of Fame Dinner, the MBA Forum on Entrepreneurship, volunteer community activities, a community lunch, and a multitude of events for students and their families including athletic games, the undergraduate Awards Ceremony, Casino Royale Night, a production by Babson Players ... and much more.
In closing, it was an enormously productive and enjoyable first year for me as President of Babson and I am deeply appreciative of the efforts of so many people in the community who helped make it so. The new academic year is off to a fast start—and the forecast is for more energy, more initiatives and activities, and new ways for our community to come together and celebrate all that is wonderful about this “jewel” of an institution.
Sincerely,
Leonard A. Schlesinger