Alums who go off and become successful always reflect well on their alma matar. And Duke can lay claim to providing the MBA education for one of the most famous executives in the world: Apple CEO Tim Cook, late founder Steve Jobs’ handpicked successor. It’s hard to imagine any school having a better living advertisement for itself. In recent years, Fuqua has had great success at matching its MBA graduates with world-class companies seeking the best and brightest. The breadth and diversity of the recruiters coming to Fuqua is a testament to the quality of its students and what the school makes of them.
The Fuqua MBA degree promises an education with a 360-degree perspective that encompasses the history of mistakes and shortcuts in business while simultaneously looking to the future with a palpable optimism. Fuqua’s goal is to create the business leaders of tomorrow, leaders who demonstrate competence, character, and purpose – leaders of consequence who are comparable to famous Fuqua alumni.
The first term at the Fuqua School of Business focuses on the development of collaborative leadership and organizational management skills along with a global outlook. The Full-Time MBA program begins with a three-week Global Institute featuring two core courses: Leadership, Ethics and Organizations; and Global Institutions and Environments. This institute begins the process of helping students to become collaborative leaders within a global business environment. Students then dive into the major functional areas in business, including economics, finance, marketing, and operations management.
Throughout the remainder of the program, students can undertake a wide-ranging general management education designed to suit their individual goals; alternatively, they have the option to focus on a particular career path through a variety of interdisciplinary concentrations and certificate opportunities.
The program seeks out students who have clearly demonstrated attributes consistent with those of a consequential leader. These qualities are available on their website, and can be browsed in the table on the site. The Fuqua MBA also offers meaningful pathways to specific industries by way of concentrations, of which there are a great variety. From energy and environment, to social entrepreneurship, the Fuqua MBA is adaptable to the specific interests and strengths of its students.
Fuqua students have an exceptional level of access to international experiential learning opportunities, with various student exchange opportunities and both the Global Academic Travel Experience (GATE) and the Fuqua Client Consulting Practicum (FCCP) sending students on international experiential training trips.
The GATE program sends students to foreign countries for two weeks after studying the business, culture, economy, and politics of the destination country for six weeks. Similarly, the Fuqua Client Consulting Practicum offers similar international and domestic experiential opportunities to students in a variety of industries.
In the realm of entrepreneurship, Fuqua offers the Program for Entrepreneurs (P4E), which aims to help entrepreneurs define, plan, establish and finance new entrepreneurial ventures. In the program, undergraduate, graduate and professional students gather into teams spanning multiple disciplines, to explore new potential markets for innovative products. The teams also evaluate business models for viability and determine the best approach to bring them to market.
Most schools have a distinguished speakers series available for students, but few have speakers who are as distinguished as those at Fuqua. Past speakers have included Cook of Apple, and Ken Chenault, CEO of American Express.
