Feb 2, 2018 - discussion on new directions in Silicon Valley organized by Paul Walborsky '89 MA '90 (recently of the New
Brandeis University INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS SCHOOL February 2018 Dear students, alumni and friends, It’s a pleasure to report on this spring’s developments at Brandeis International Business School (IBS). Our headline news is a surge in graduate applications. With our January deadline behind us (two more deadlines are still ahead), we have 32 percent more applications for the next incoming class than this time last year (1,700 vs. 1,290). Applications to nearly all programs and from most geographic regions are up, and this should mean even stronger and more diverse students next fall. The new Master of Science in Business Analytics has 340 applications for 35 seats. There is no single explanation for these changes—some U.S. programs are reporting declines—but Brandeis IBS is benefiting from high rankings, timely innovations in programs, and the university’s reputation. Meanwhile, as proposed in our plan, we are aggressively expanding collaborations with businesses in Boston and beyond, partnerships with academic peers worldwide, and ties with other parts of Brandeis. These initiatives fit well with President Ron Liebowitz’s strategy to make Brandeis “newly extroverted”—that is, engaged in the world and widely recognized for its strengths. The business pillar of this work is led by Frank Fessenden, who arrived in January as our first Executive Director of Corporate Relations, thanks to a generous gift from Board Co-chair Alan Hassenfeld. Frank brings ideal qualifications—he led the Hiatt Career Center at Brandeis and the Career Center of Boston College earlier in his career, and then held senior management positions in Boston “ed-tech” firms. He has prioritized expanding our field consulting projects and strengthening our business systems for collecting and utilizing information on past internship partners. Academic outreach is led by Senior Associate Dean Katy Graddy. Her work has focused on partnerships with prestigious universities in order to raise the visibility of IBS graduate programs, enroll exceptional students, and deepen faculty collaborations. We recently signed agreements with the University of Paris, Dauphine; Ben-Gurion University in Israel; Keio University, the second-ranked university in Japan; Fudan and Zhejiang Universities, both among the top five in China; and Connecticut College. We reaffirmed our partnership with Wellesley College, and Katy along with Prof. Aldo Musacchio will soon visit Mexico to meet with potential university partners. Connections within Brandeis are a school-wide effort. We are finding ways to help undergraduate and graduate students collaborate more closely by inviting more outside groups to events such as our Global Gala and hosting several university-wide startup competitions. We are also joining other university departments in high-profile campus events, including Fine Arts in a conference on art, and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies in an evening on women in leadership. A very full spring semester is underway. A selection of February events offers a glimpse: •
On February 2, IBS held its fifth and easily best Global Gala before a standing-room-only crowd in the university’s Levin Ballroom. Students, faculty and staff offered awesome performances ranging from skits to songs, dance and jazz. Food from many continents illustrated just a touch of our culinary diversity. Great talent + high spirits = a truly memorable evening.
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On February 4, the Hassenfeld Family Innovation Center hosted the fourth annual SPARK challenge, a $50,000 competition for startups from across Brandeis. Three IBS teams were among
the winners, including the first-place alumni-student team that developed and is now implementing an investment strategy that uses artificial intelligence methodology to identify and avoid emotional trading patterns in asset markets. •
On February 9, IBS hosted the US finals of “SmartFifty,” a competition sponsored by the Indian government to find 50 solutions to India’s economic and social challenges. IBS managed the U.S. round, in partnership with the Indian Institute of Management in Kolkata and with great support from board member Reuben Auspitz ’69. More than 200 U.S., European and Israeli companies expressed interest, and we narrowed the field to five remarkable winners (see www.brandeis.edu/smartfifty). India’s Consul General in New York described the day as the best event he has seen since he arrived in the United States eight months ago.
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On February 13, the Rosenberg Institute for Global Finance hosted Professor Stephen Cecchetti for his inaugural lecture on “Making Finance Safe and Accessible” as the Rosen Family Chair of International Finance, based on his tenure as chief economist of the Bank of International Settlements.
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On February 22, IBS heads to San Francisco for alumni and student events including a panel discussion on new directions in Silicon Valley organized by Paul Walborsky ’89 MA ’90 (recently of the New York Times) and featuring Stephanie Schear Tilenius ’89 MA ’90, CEO of Vida Health and others. Fifteen current IBS students will be also with us; they will be on the IBS Silicon Valley trek visiting with alumni and senior staff at Google, Facebook, Salesforce and Reflektive.
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On February 27, the Perlmutter Institute for Global Business Leadership hosts “Accelerating Women’s Careers,” an evening with women executives organized in collaboration with Catalyst, the national institute of female executives. This unusually timely event is generating interest across the campus; six other Brandeis organizations have joined the Institute in promoting it.
Later this spring, IBS will celebrate the Boston-Israel innovation system with Massachusetts executives and officials and confer the Asper Award for Global Entrepreneurship on Udi Mokady and Lior Div, CEOs of leading Israeli cybersecurity firms. On March 20-21, Dean Graddy and Professor Nancy Scott of Fine Arts will host “Looted Art for Sale!” with a keynote address by Stuart Eizenstat, a senior official in the Carter and Clinton administrations who organized the Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets. Later in March, the IBS Real Estate Council, led by Board Co-chair David Hodes and Professor Linda Stoller, will sponsor a networking evening featuring current real estate projects by students and professionals, including alumni. A full list of this spring’s events is attached. On the administrative front, three business school deans from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), our accrediting body, will visit IBS in March for a reaccreditation review. Meanwhile, the search for a new dean is now in its final stage, and the search committee expects to make recommendations before the end of the semester. With best regards, Peter A. Petri Kathryn Graddy Interim Dean Senior Associate Dean
February 4 February 9 February 12 February 13 February 22 February 27 March 2 March 7 March 8 March 14 March 20, 21
March 22 March 24-26 Late March April 5 April 10 May 14-23 June 8-10 July 16-17
Brandeis International Business School Spring 2018 Hassenfeld Family Innovation Center: SPARK Tank competition India Initiative: Smart Fifty International Judging Round Rosenberg Institute: “Completing Economic and Monetary Union: the Financial Dimension,” representatives of the European Economic Commission. Rosenberg Institute: inaugural lecture of Rosen Family Chair of International Finance, Professor Stephen Cecchetti, “Making Finance Safe and Accessible” Alumni Relations: student/alumni panel and reception, “The Role of Culture in Exponential Scale and Global Expansion,” San Francisco Perlmutter Institute: “Accelerating Women’s Careers through Research & Modeling," co-sponsored with Catalyst, Rapaporte Treasure Hall Alumni Relations: MBA networking night Perlmutter Institute: talk by Vanita Gupta, CEO Leadership Conference on Human Rights Alumni Relations: student/alumni networking event, Seattle Hassenfeld Family Innovation Center: Hosting Mass Innovation Nights@Brandeis, Gosman/Napoli Trophy Room Rosenberg Institute: "Looted Art for Sale!" film screening and panel discussion with Professor Katy Graddy, keynote by Stuart Eizenstat, co-sponsored with Fine Arts, Film Studies, German Studies, Mandel Center for the Humanities Alumni Relations: alumni/student networking event, Boston Asper Center & Hassenfeld Family Innovation Center: university-wide 3 Day Startup Competition Real Estate Initiative: presentation and networking event Alumni Relations: student/alumni networking event, Chicago Asper Center: Asper Award for Global Entrepreneurship to Uri Mokady, CyberArk and Lior Div, Cybereason. Panel and reception on the Israel/Boston innovation system. Hassenfeld Overseas Immersion Program trips: Israel and Hong Kong/Shenzhen, China, and related alumni events Alumni Relations: Brandeis Alumni Weekend Rosenberg Institute: Municipal Finance Conference, Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C.
Events are subject to change. Please contact Barbara Cassidy (
[email protected]) for further information.
Brandeis IBS Global Gala 2018
