Stanford GSB Fills Key Diversity & Inclusion Role

Allison Rouse’s interest in inclusion dates back to his teenage years in the Bronx, where he grew up within walking distance of Yankee Stadium. He attended a private school on a scholarship and was one of only a handful of African-American students. To create a community for himself and other students of color, Rouse and a few fellow classmates created a multicultural student group.

Close to 35 years later, Rouse’s commitment to inclusion took a new turn when he was named Stanford GSB’s director of diverse alumni communities. In this newly created role, Rouse will develop strategies, shape programs, and manage initiatives to support equity, inclusion, and belonging for GSB alumni.

“Allison has initiated and supported diversity efforts at the GSB throughout his career in MBA Admissions and with the MSx Program,” says Derrick Bolton, associate dean for external relations. “We’re thrilled to have him take on this role to strengthen our alumni community.”

Read the complete Stanford GSB story here. Read Poets&Quants‘ coverage of Stanford’s groundbreaking DEI plan here.

U.S.- and Taiwan-based business leader Harry Tsao gives £2 million to Cambridge Judge

Cambridge Judge Business School is delighted to share the news that US and Taiwan-based alumnus Harry Tsao (MBA 1994) and his wife Carol Chen have made a generous £2 million donation to support the Business School’s Simon Sainsbury Centre, situated at the back of the Old Addenbrooke’s building.

The Simon Sainsbury Centre has enabled the School to bring its entire community under one roof, and created several new lecture theatres, seminar rooms, a private dining room for Executive Education and a dining café for the School. The addition of the Centre is fostering greater collaboration, stimulating ideas and connecting people to facilitate great research, teaching and engagement.

“Giving is cultural, and your life experiences and background influence your perception of the value and importance of philanthropy,” Harry Tsao says.

Read the full article on Cambridge Judge Business School website.

How this Dartmouth Tuck professor became a ‘nerdy girl’

According to medical doctor and sociologist Nicholas Christakis, the director of the Human Nature Lab at Yale University, “everywhere you see the spread of germs … you see right behind it the spread of lies.”

When the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of the U.S. in early March, Tuck clinical professor and health policy expert Lindsey Leininger immediately began counteracting the confusion and misinformation that swirled just as insidiously as the virus itself. It wasn’t a job she applied for; rather, she was drawn into the fray by friends and family who reached out to her for guidance on how to stay safe.

As it turned out, Leininger wasn’t the only one providing evidence-based pandemic advice to her community. Public health scientists Malia Jones and Allison Buttenheim had just started an Instagram account for that very purpose, which they called “Dear Pandemic.” A community member lovingly dubbed Jones and Buttenheim “those Nerdy Girls” and they soon invited Leininger to join them as a contributor to Dear Pandemic. “I eagerly accepted,” Leininger says. The trio grew quickly into nine “Nerdy Girls” and expanded into Facebook, Twitter, and their own website. Today, there are 12 Nerdy Girl Ph.D.s and clinicians contributing to Dear Pandemic, which has more than 45,000 followers on Facebook, and the women appear frequently in stories by national and regional media outlets. As the CEO of the campaign, whose mission is to educate and empower people to successfully navigate pandemic life, Leininger does everything from the mundane operational tasks to finding new Nerdy Girls, sourcing and vetting scientific resources, finding and deepening partnerships, and participating in outside speaking engagements.

USC Marshall graduates first Food Leadership cohort

The USC Marshall Food Industry Leadership Program graduated its first online cohort on Saturday, November 21.

Cohort 1, aptly named the “Trailblazing XVIII,” consisted of 18 students from a wide range of companies, including Ajinomoto Foods, CloudKitchens, Coca-Cola, Cub Foods, Fairbault Foods, Food 4 Less, General Mills, Oil Dry Corp., Olam Intl., Post Consumer Brands, QFC/Kroger, Raley’s, Rise Baking Co., Smart & Final, Southwest Foodservice, and Whitehall Specialties, Student occupations included a CEO, vice presidents, regional managers, store managers, R & D specialists, food service directors, an executive chef and a food lifestyle writer.

The Class of 2020 had a balance of gender, race and ethnic backgrounds, and ranged in age from mid-20s to early 60s, with an average of nearly 20 years of work experience  All 18 completed their classes together and on time, many while working overtime on the front-lines to provide food for their communities during a global pandemic.

“Last year we launched the first and only graduate program of its kind in the food industry,” said Dr. Cynthia McCloud, director of food industry programs at USC Marshall. “We taught online leadership courses in strategy, innovation, decision-making, design thinking, diversity and inclusion, digital marketing, and leadership among others. We engaged some of the most highly sought-after USC faculty who are experts in their areas of research. And we had the great honor of launching this new program with 18 food industry professionals who were willing to take the risks and to help us blaze new trails and experiment with new ways of engaging adult learners.”

For more information on the Master of Food Industry Leadership, go to: www.marshall.usc.edu/fil.

Mannheim partners with Israeli schools on new Master in Management Analytics degree program

Starting in November 2021, the Arison School of Business, IDC Herzliya, and Mannheim Business School will jointly offer the first German–Israeli degree program. The new Master in Management Analytics will prepare young executives for the challenges of digital transformation and converting data into a source of business value. The two schools developed the one-year full-time program with three objectives in mind: to train experts and future leaders in all important aspects of digitization, to connect business cultures and to further strengthen German–Israeli relations.

Both institutions enjoy an excellent reputation worldwide: IDC Herzliya, located in the vicinity of Tel Aviv, is considered one of the top universities in Israel, bringing together leading experts in artificial intelligence, big data, innovation and entrepreneurship, while Mannheim Business School is the umbrella organization for management education at the University of Mannheim, one of the leading European universities for business, economics and the social sciences. Students will spend half the one-year full-time program in each of the respective countries, studying and also gaining insights into local companies. “Thus, they will benefit from the strengths of both partners and locations. They will be familiarized with the data-driven ecosystems both of Israel, a start-up nation, particularly those in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, and of Germany, a location with an unprecedented number of highly successful corporations of all sizes and in all sectors,” explains Prof. Dov Pekelman, Dean of the Arison School of Business. “Graduates will not only be internationally versed young leaders and experts in digitization and management analytics, but also key ambassadors of German–Israeli relations around the world possessing unique cultural intelligence,” states Prof. Jens Wüstemann, President of Mannheim Business School.

The curriculum includes courses in data management and analytics, business and technology. A further pillar of the Master in Management Analytics is the broad range of personal and career development opportunities available. A comprehensive Business Analytics Master Project to be carried out in a small group at a partner company concludes the program. “Our graduates will have the invaluable ability to take a holistic view of management issues and adopt and understand the roles and perspectives of experts in various functions,” says Dr. Ofrit Lesser, co-director of the program at the Arison School of Business. “The program fosters precisely the analytical mindset and skills required to analyze large amounts of data appropriately and effectively, and subsequently draw the right conclusions. Thus, alumni of this program will provide companies of all sizes in all sectors with the capability to transform data into real business value,” stresses Prof. Florian Stahl, the program’s academic director at Mannheim Business School. Recent studies show that this job profile is much sought after on the job market. According to a World Economic Forum study, data analysts and scientists, AI and machine learning specialists, as well as big data and digital transformation specialists are among the top 10 most promising job profiles for the coming years. A Bain & Company study states that even though the number of data specialists will have reached one million worldwide in 2020, it will not be nearly enough for companies to fill all their staff requirements.

Applications for the Master in Management Analytics are now open. The regular tuition fee is €38,000. However, participants of the first class of the program will enjoy an introductory price of €27,000. The admission requirements are an undergraduate degree, work experience in a data-related position and a very good command of English.

All information about the Master in Management Analytics is available at www.mannheim-business-school.com/full-time-mma.

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