Updates from the Dean's Suite

It is no state secret - our faculty are as driven as our students. Driven to inspire them as innovators and problem solvers. Driven to explore new business horizons and span interdisciplinary boundaries. Driven to advance the education and societal mission of UMass Amherst's flagship, land-grant campus. I am proud to introduce seven new Isenberg faculty members, all of whom will make an outstanding business school better. Without question, our new faculty will add value to our students, our reputation, and to Isenberg's unique driven culture.

Welcome to a new academic year, resonating with Isenberg’s growing academic reputation and expanding national footprint. One sure barometer for these gains is our success in attracting high-level students and faculty.

Isenberg’s Business Leadership Awards banquet on June 15 at the Colonnade Hotel in Boston attracted 350 enthusiastic members of the Isenberg community. A celebration of all things Isenberg, including the year’s honorees—Earl Stafford ’76 and Nick Markey ’13—affirmed Isenberg’s positive, driven culture and our mission to propel the school to top-5 status among the nation’s public business schools.

On May 12 and 13, Isenberg honored its 1,200 graduating seniors and 500 graduating master’s degree and PhD candidates at separate commencement ceremonies. The high-energy events included university-wide ceremonies and our own senior celebration at the Mullins Center. We also celebrated an annual Oath Ceremony for our MBA’s and a robing ceremony for our record number 18 PhDs.

The Class of 2017 is proving they are “Driven to Give”. We are nearing the monumental Senior Class Gift goal of 50% participation. Meeting this goal is so important to me that I will donate an additional $1,000 to the class gift when we reach it. For every percentage point beyond that, I will add another $100. In other words, if we hit 60% participation, I will double my gift to $2,000. Added incentive: When we reach 50% participation, Beth Gamel ’78—a dedicated alumna—will donate $1,000 of her own. If we reach 60%, she will up her gift by an additional $2,000.

The spring semester is rankings season for business schools and Isenberg continues to make steady progress. I’m especially proud of our rankings in the Financial Times survey of Online MBA programs, where we were #1 in the U.S. and #3 in the world. With 1,300 online students, our online MBA program is among the nation’s largest and most successful.

From Groundbreaking for our new 70,000 square-foot Business Innovation Hub to a stellar gathering featuring Apple’s Steve Wozniak to a full complement of visits by alumni to Isenberg, Fall 2016 was a semester to remember. . .And build on!

I recently sat down with BusinessWest editor George O’Brien for a discussion about Isenberg’s dramatically improved national reputation and our aspirations to elevate it further. In the interview—the magazine’s current cover feature—I outlined the strategic and tactical elements that we will continue to deploy in growing Isenberg’s reputational capital. I also underscored the importance of measurable execution in that pursuit.
Above all, improved reputation and rankings allow us to recruit better students and secure better jobs and salaries for our graduates. It’s a virtuous,...

I am proud to introduce thirteen new faculty members, each of whom will make an outstanding business school even better. They are sure add value to our students, our reputation, and to Isenberg's unique, driven culture.

Every semester, we elicit feedback from recruiters that come to Isenberg to interview undergrads (that’s you!). We ask them questions about their overall experience, their experiences with our students, and their experiences with the Chase Career Center. We in the Dean’s Office and in the Chase Career Center compile, review, and evaluate this feedback every week throughout the semester. We also examine trends across academic years.

Welcome back to what is sure to be an eventful academic year. We have started construction on the Business Innovation Hub, which, when it opens for business in 2 ½ years, will be home base for today’s Isenberg freshmen and sophomores. It is one of many strategic investments in Isenberg’s academic “infrastructure” and reputation that are propelling us toward top-ten status among the nation’s public business schools.

It gives me great pleasure to announce that Professor Muzaffer "Muzzo" Uysal is joining our faculty as the new Chair of our Hospitality & Tourism Management (HTM) program. The hands-down choice of our search committee, Professor Uysal brings many career highlights that underscore his leadership in the hospitality and tourism field. He is a relationship-builder with both industry and academe, a dedicated and innovative educator, and an internationally renowned hospitality researcher.