Last month I wrote about our plans to add professors of practice to the faculty to affirm our commitment to experiential learning and strengthen our centers of excellence. This month I would like to share information about three additional initiatives that will help us differentiate ourselves in the future.

• The Century Club. With the support of our board of advisors, we have just launched The Century Club--a new network of corporate sponsors dedicated to supporting our mission. Limited to a select membership of 100 corporations, The Century Club offers a unique opportunity for companies to gain valuable benefits while creating an effective partnership with the Lundquist College of Business. Based on the membership level (Silver $10,000/year; Gold $25,000/year; Platinum$50,000/year--all for three years), corporations will enjoy a variety of benefits, including preferred access to student recruits and interns, early access to faculty commentary and opinion pieces, invitations to join us at special events, and a dedicated contact within the Office of External Programs for your questions and needs. At the platinum level, we will work with you to develop a personalized, concrete engagement plan and menu of opportunities for the three-year partnership. By joining this elite group, corporations will develop a close partnership with the college and enjoy the best we have to offer. Each company's contribution will be strategically invested in the college's top priorities. Should the corporation choose to have a primary affiliation with one of our centers of excellence--Securities Analysis Center, Warsaw Sports Marketing Center, Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship, or Center for Sustainable Business Practices--then half of the corporation's contribution will be allocated to the chosen center. If you know of a company that may wish to consider joining this elite group of corporations, please contact Wendy Jett (wjett@uoregon.edu) (541-346-1612) in External Programs.
• Bloomberg Businessweek. The college has signed on as a member of the Bloomberg Businessweek B-School Connection Program. This program provides digital and print subscriptions of the magazine, including archives of content dating back to 1991, for 150 faculty and approximately 1,500 students. Eligible students include first-year MBAs, seniors, honors students, CEO Network students, and freshmen in select courses. The program also provides faculty with instructional resources and gives the college the opportunity to customize the cover of one issue of the magazine per year. I am pleased to announce that we have received private donor support to participate in the Bloomberg Program for five years beginning this spring.
• South Africa Study Tour. The third initiative concerns our goal to increase our global reach. Five years ago, the Lundquist College launched a far-reaching initiative to expose business students to the culture, history, politics, and economy of East Asia. The impetus for the initiative was an opportunity to collaborate with the University of Oregon's Center for Asian and Pacific Studies to secure a two-year U.S. Department of Education Business and International Education Grant. That grant enabled the college to expose business students at the MBA level to the culture and social context of Asia through a study tour in the Beijing and Shanghai. Since 2006, we have successfully secured private donations to continue this valuable program. To make international experiential education a permanent component of our MBA program, we seek to create an endowment to support foreign student travel in the years to come. In the meantime, as an alternative to Engaging Asia, I am pleased to announce that this Fall a number of MBAs will have an opportunity to complete a study tour in South Africa. This tour will be hosted by the business school at the University of Stellenbosch, a premier teaching and research institution in the region. Participating students will directly engage with business, the government, and nonprofit organizations in this rapidly developing nation.

As this letter attests, every day new opportunities for improvement arise. We want you to know that we are ready to seize them.

Onward and upward,


Cornelis A. "Kees" de Kluyver
Dean and James and Shirley Rippey Distinguished Professor