Each week, we collect all the MBA news that’s fit to print and provide a quick overview of the latest updates from top business schools around the world.
Here’s your MBA News You Need digest for the week of May 27, 2019.
New UVA Darden Fellowship Opportunities
In partnership with the William G. McGowan Charitable Fund, the University of Virginia Darden School of Business now offers a new fellowship for second-year, full-time MBA students. The McGowan Fellows Program provides a full tuition scholarship and a host of experiential leadership development opportunities to a rising second-year MBA student.
The Darden McGowan Fellow will join nine other MBA students from top business schools such as Wharton, Northwestern Kellogg, and MIT Sloan to form a ten-member cohort. This cohort will receive training from the Center for Creative Leadership, interact with McGowan Alumni Coaches, work on a collective social impact project, and more.
“Darden was selected due to its long commitment to ethics and leadership, and it joins a distinguished group of McGowan Fellows partner schools,” said Diana Spencer, executive director of the McGowan Fund. “We are very excited to work with Darden to promote principled leadership with an eye to positively influencing future trailblazers in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors.”
Read more about the Darden fellowship in the original press release.
Yale SOM Graduation Wrap Up
‘Tis the season for graduation ceremonies, and Yale SOM shared a wrap up of their 42nd Commencement ceremony. In total, 505 students from the Class of 2019 received diplomas—339 from the full-time MBA program and 56 from the MBA for Executives program.
During the ceremony, Dean Edward A. Snyder congratulated the graduates and called them a “source of hope” in the world. Dean Snyder also expressed confidence in their ability to act for the good of society throughout their careers.
Full-time MBA graduate Udit Rastogi gave a rousing speech about how Yale SOM’s diverse community has prepared their class for leadership roles in an increasingly globalized economy. “As graduates of the most global business school in the world, we are going to be the flag bearers in how we all talk to each other, listen to each other, and treat each other,” he said. “Our values don’t define our actions. Our actions define our values.”
Read the full Commencement report here.
Michigan Ross Faculty Recognized for Promoting Diversity & Inclusion
Bryan Johnson, the Associate Director of Admissions for Diversity Recruiting at Michigan Ross, and Marcus Collins, a faculty member in the marketing department, were recently announced as joint winners of the Cornerstone Award.
Each year, a UM faculty or staff member is given the prestigious award in recognition for their contributions to enhancing the academic and social progress of BIPOC students at the school. Johnson was recognized for the incredible work he does every day on behalf of the students he recruits, while Collins was recognized for strengthening the Ross community through the diversity of the student body.
Diversity plays a significant role at Michigan Ross, starting at orientation when students focus on building empathy and understanding. Academically, diversity is a major topic of teaching workshops, classroom environments, and the student experience throughout their education.
To learn more, head over to the Michigan Ross full-time MBA admissions blog.
MIT Sloan Announces $100K Launch Top Prize
The MIT Sloan $100K Entrepreneurship Competition is a year-long competition divided into Pitch, Accelerate, and Launch contests. Pitch judges 90-second elevator pitches; Accelerate looks at early customer research and prototype development; Launch evaluates whole business plans after legal, design, and business mentorship.
This year, sound-based hardware and artificial intelligence software company Acoustic Wells, which determines the health and operation of oil wells, took home the top prize in the Launch competition. Dubbed a “stethoscope for an oil well,” Acoustic Wells offers cheaper and more environmentally-friendly strategies for owners to diagnose wells.
“The same way when you go to the doctor and they listen to the sound of your heart and they’re able to analyze what’s happening — to the bump, the heart — we do the same thing except in this case the bump is deep underground,” said Sebastien Mannai, PhD ’18 and technical expert at Acoustic Wells.
Founded in 1989, the competition has helped launch more than 160 companies and raise $1.3 billion in venture capital.
Learn more about the other 2019 finalists here.
Berkeley Haas: 5 Soft Skills Learned in Business School
MBA programs are structured to give graduates both the hard skills they need to perform their job well and the soft skills required to develop strong interpersonal relationships.
According to Berkeley Haas, there are five soft skills that are essential to learn in business school if you want to succeed in the modern workplace:
- Creativity: As technology replaces human tasks, creativity is more important than ever. It’s human ingenuity that cannot be replaced and is woven into the fabrics of most MBA curricula.
- Cross–Cultural Competency: As MBA students attempting to do right in a global business economy, it’s vital to understand how people from different cultures communicate, solve business problems, and view the world.
- Negotiation: Effective negotiation skills help us get what we want. MBA programs teach negotiation in the classroom through hands-on learning in a variety of settings.
- Communication: You use communication every day from presenting to pitching, holding meetings, and interacting with co-workers. In an MBA program, you’ll learn a variety of communication approaches and develop your skills to communicate more effectively.
- Leadership: Employers want employees who are leaders since leadership touches on nearly every aspect of an organization. As an MBA student, you’ll refine your leadership abilities through courses, projects, and more.
Read the full Berkeley MBA Blog here.
