A Semester to Remember

Isenberg ran on all cylinders during the fall semester, beginning on September 16 with a memorable groundbreaking ceremony for our $62 million Business Innovation Hub. It was a festive event attended by enthusiastic alumni, students, and faculty. When the future-forward building opens in the spring of 2019, it will add 70,000 square-feet of classrooms, labs, an expanded career center, and a spacious learning commons. The bottom line: In 2019, Isenberg will have facilities that befit an iconic business school.

Just as critical to Isenberg has been our accelerating investment in faculty. This fall, we welcomed six new tenure track professors and six new lecturers. Every one of them was at or near the top of their highly competitive markets, including the new chair of our Hospitality and Tourism Management program, Muzzo Uysal, who is an international scholar and researcher.

Alumni and industry speakers in our classrooms were another crucial asset. This fall, more than sixty of them shared industry perspectives and mentored our students. The visitors represented the entire business spectrum and all sizes of enterprises—from entrepreneurships to iconic corporations. Connections with business leaders is crucial to our student’s success, so if you were among those visitors, thank you! If you weren’t, consider a future classroom visit. Your insights will make a difference.

Our alumni kept in touch with Isenberg and each other through a dozen school-driven events. In October, we hosted Apple co-founder and inventor of the personal computer Steve Wozniak, who kept an audience of 120 Boston business leaders—Isenberg alumni included—enthralled with his recollections and insights. The event was the debut of Driven: A Conversation With..., Isenberg’s new series of conversations with business innovators at the UMass Club in downtown Boston. Next up is a conversation with Zipcar co-founder Robin Chase on February 16.

I hosted regional school-wide alumni events on November 3^rd in Manhattan and on November 16^th in Boston at the UMass Club. Both events were attended by over 100 enthusiastic alumni, who are committed to staying involved with Isenberg. Other gatherings dovetailed with sporting events. Isenberg Day at Fenway (before the semester began), the UMass BC game at Gillette Stadium’s Optimal Lounge, along with the MBA Program also hosting at Gillette, and the Isenberg Parents Organization’s tailgate at McQuirk on September 17 all drew in the hundreds. At Fenway, we took over the entire Champions Club. Chancellor Subbaswamy and President Meehan joined us at the BC game and the Chancellor and UMass Amherst Athletic Director Ryan Bamford partied with us—247 strong—at the tailgate.

Two of our departments also held alumni gatherings. Our Accounting Alumni Reception on October 20 at the Marriott Long Wharf in Boston dovetailed with a meeting of our Accounting Advisory Council. The event and meeting attracted representatives from our key partners at signature accounting firms. Our Hospitality and Tourism Management department held its annual New York City reception at Sofitel on November 14 and its fall Boston reception at the UMass Club on September 28^th. Both were fantastic networking events for alumni, with strong attendance by HTM Board members.

In all of these activities, the enthusiasm of our alumni, faculty, staff, and students energize my work as dean. For me it’s the best of all possible worlds--our entire Isenberg community shares in a “driven” culture. We are a business school on the move—both regionally and nationally.