Dear GWSB Community,
My first semester at GWSB, although very hectic, has been very productive and rewarding. It feels great to belong to the GW community. I’ve been impressed by the energy of our faculty and staff, the enthusiasm of our students, and the eagerness of our alumni to stay engaged with GWSB. We’ve built on our great foundation and continue to be on an upward trajectory.
We have been recognized through exceptional improvements in our standing in a number of national and international collegiate rankings. This fall GWSB’s online MBA program was ranked #9 by TopMBA and #25 in the Poets & Quants 2019 online MBA ranking. Our fulltime MBA program moved up to #48 in the Bloomberg Businessweek ranking and earned the #28 spot in the Times Higher Education/Wall Street Journal ranking. We also earned a #6 ranking (up from #9) in U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Undergraduate International Business Programs.”
These rankings are the result of your collective commitment and hard work. I know if we continue to put students’ interests first in all that we do — and set new goals for ourselves — GWSB will continue to rise in reputation.
And speaking of new goals, I am very excited about some new initiatives already underway or planned for next semester:
- Our groundbreaking Communities of Practice (CoP) initiative, devoted to ensuring GWSB graduates have the knowledge and skills they need to be job-ready on day one of their careers, is continuing to expand in scope. CoP students are currently in a five-month pro-bono project with the D.C. Historical Society, in partnership with Apple. CoP students are also engaged on a second project with Swoup, a fin-tech startup based in New York City.
- In response to the changing demands of the business education market, we will be offering GWSB students the opportunity to earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree in five years via our 4+1 Program for combined degrees in accountancy, business analytics, finance, human resource management, information systems technology, project management, sport management and tourism administration.
- In the spring semester we’re going to launch “George Talks Business,” a series of weekly guest interviews featuring prominent alumni, top business experts and thought leaders. The on-campus “George Talks” will be webcast live, making them available to the GWSB community worldwide.
In closing, I want to recognize two long-time members of the GWSB community who will be retiring at the end of the semester: Gil Yancey, executive director of the F. David Fowler Career Center, and Hossein Askari, Iran Professor of International Business and International Relations. Please join me in thanking them for all their many contributions to GWSB over the years and in wishing them all the best in retirement.
Wishing each and every one of you a joyous, healthy holiday season and a happy new year. I know we’ll continue to do great things in 2019!
All the best,
Anuj Mehrotra, Ph.D.
Dean