Poets&Quants’ Most Popular (And Important) Stories Of 2020

Chicago Booth MBA Amy Cooper charged a stranger and then falsely accused him of threatening her life in a phone call to the police

2. Booth MBA Loses Job Over Racist Behavior

Remember this one? In May, Amy Cooper, who worked as a vice president and head of investment solutions at Franklin Templeton Investments in New York City, was publicly fired after a Memorial Day incident that went viral on social media. Cooper, who earned her MBA at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, was let go by Franklin Templeton after an internal review of a videotaped encounter with a black man in Central Park who had asked her to abide by park rules and put her dog on a leash. When he took out his smartphone to video the incident, she charged him in a threatening manner, coming within inches of him.

She initially refused to put her dog on a leash, instead threatening the 57-year-old man, Christian Cooper, a Harvard graduate who works in communications. She screamed that she would call the police to falsely report that he was putting her life in jeopardy. “I’m going to tell them there’s an African American man threatening my life.”

The incident occurred as the country was on edge amid heightened awareness of racial issues including police violence toward people of color. Amy Cooper was later charged with a misdemeanor for filing a false police report by the Manhattan district attorney.

1. How Coronavirus Changed MBA Admissions

Capturing all the fear and concern that would characterize 2020, one of our first major stories on the coronavirus pandemic — which was then so little understood — went on to become our most-read news story of the year. As the pandemic roiled the world of graduate business education, writer and editor Nathan Allen wrote: “As the novel coronavirus Covid-19 spreads around the globe, many countries have closed standardized testing centers where MBA applicants would otherwise be taking GMAT and GRE exams. As a result, many schools are altering the deadlines and procedures for late-round MBA applications. Delaying Round 3 and Round 4 deadlines, or beginning to review applications without standardized test scores, are the most common ways in which schools are making changes. Schools will also begin conducting admissions interviews virtually and holding orientation events online as more shelter-in-place restrictions are implemented.”

This story — updated throughout the year, and most recently in October — acted as an essential guide for many thousands of applicants and potential applicants to MBA programs. We scoured the Internet and reached out to schools to provide updates, particularly for the U.S.-based schools ranked in this past year’s Poets&Quants’ top-50 ranked MBA programs, and received and published notices of extended application deadlines and standardized test waivers, as well as other vitally important information for our readers.

Coronavirus would color nearly all of Poets&Quants‘ coverage in 2020. This early story was the template for all that was to come as we settled into the “new normal.”

The Best of 2020 at Poets&Quants

DEAN OF THE YEAR: UVA DARDEN’S SCOTT BEARDSLEY

MBA PROGRAM OF THE YEAR: INDIANA UNIVERSITY’S KELLEY DIRECT

P&Q PROFESSOR OF THE YEAR: HARVARD’S DEEPAK MALHOTRA

P&Q’S MOST POPULAR (AND IMPORTANT) STORIS OF 2020

2020 BUSINESS SCHOOL RANKINGS: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION

MBA PAY & PROFILES 2020 SCHOOL EMPLOYMENT & CLASS REPORTS

P&Q’S TOP BUSINESS SCHOOL SCANDALS OF 2020

B-SCHOOLS (TRY TO) PREDICT WHAT 2021 WILL LOOK LIKE

BUSINESS SCHOOL DEANS SHARE 2021 RESOLUTIONS

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