Business schools today must have a global perspective. A business education that does not expose students directly--in a hands-on fashion--to international experiences and markets does not prepare them for the real-world challenges that await them.
At the UO Lundquist College of Business, we are making great strides to expand our global focus. As I write this Inner Circle update, more than forty second-year MBA students and center directors from the Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship, Finance and Securities Analysis Center, Center for Sustainable Business Practices, and Warsaw Sports Marketing Center are in China as part of our annual Engaging Asia study tour--now in its sixth year. The tour has become a hallmark experience of our Oregon MBA program. To date, more than 250 students have participated in this transforming global experience (You can follow the adventures of these students as they blog from Beijing and Shanghai at http://blogs.uoregon.edu/uobusiness)
Making this year's experience even more meaningful, the college has just established the Kenneth D. Ramsing International Fellows program, funded in large part by a generous gift from James E. Bramsen, MBA '61 and president of Spraying Systems Co. Ramsing, a former faculty member, led and promoted international outreach efforts at the college for more than three decades. Thanks to Bramsen's generous, multiyear gift, this year's cohort of MBA students in China are the first designated as Ramsing Fellows.
UO/Nyenrode
But there is much more to come. As you may recall, one of our globalization goals was to relaunch an exchange program with Nyenrode Business Universiteit (the premier business university in The Netherlands). Begun in the mid-1960s and continuing through the early 1980s, the program sent UO business students to Holland while bringing Dutch students--including myself--to the United States to study in Eugene. Well, here's the good news. Beginning next summer, this exchange program will recommence--first with almost seventy executive and international MBA students (with undergraduates and other students in subsequent years). Key areas of study will be focused on entrepreneurship and sustainability. Plans are also in the works to bring a Nyenrode faculty member to the University of Oregon to teach for a term next year.
We are very excited that Nyenrode Business Universiteit has chosen to partner with us for it America's module, which for several years was hosted by Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. Nyenrode's immense network of corporate partners offers great internship and career opportunities for Lundquist College students. For more information about Nyenrode and its America's module, please consult Nyenrode's website at http://www.nyenrode.nl.
New Germany Partnership
Earlier this year we additionally negotiated a second European exchange program for undergraduate students with the WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management in Koblenz, Germany. Beginning in fall 2012, or possibly as early as next spring, two Lundquist College of Business students will have the opportunity to spend a full trimester at WHU while we will host two of their best students. WHU is a premier business school in Germany with a high profile among top companies throughout Europe. Applications for this extremely competitive opportunity are already being sought.
In late October, I will be traveling to Singapore and Hong Kong to further expand our international network, connect with alumni, and arrange exchange and internship opportunities in Asia. We greatly appreciate your assistance in helping us build this network, funding these efforts and, by doing so, contributing to the realization of our global ambitions. If you haven't already, I hope you will join those supporting our international initiatives via the links below.
Cordially,
Cornelis A. “Kees" de Kluyver
Rippey Distinguished Professor and Dean