MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN

The title story of this issue, "What We Do, Who We Are," focuses on the
degree programs of The UTD School of Management and how they serve our
growing and diverse student body.

We continue to increase the visibility of our programs. This spring, U.S.
News and World Report ranked our Cohort MBA Program 62nd in the nation.
This compares to the 78th place spot the same publication gave us last
year--in our first year of eligibility as an AASCB-accredited school. It is
important to note that there are only four business schools in Texas
ranked higher. In addition, Financial Times ranked our Executive MBA
Program among the top 34 EMBA programs in the United States and among the
top 61 worldwide. We continue to update and expand our programs; two of
our most recent offerings are in the areas of internal auditing and
entrepreneurship.

Along with the growing visibility of our programs, our faculty has gained
increased recognition. This spring, the membership of the Institute for
Operations Research and Management Sciences (INFORMS) voted Dr. Frank M.
Bass's 1969 landmark paper, "New Product Growth for Model Consumer
Durables," one of the 10 most influential papers published in the 50-year
history of the INFORMS journal Management Science. Dr. Gregory G. Dess was
listed as the eighth most-cited author in the field of business management
strategy, and Dr. Jane Salk joined an exclusive group of 40 scholars,
worldwide, inducted into the selective International Organization Network.
At the annual meeting of the Workshop in Information Technology and
Systems, more papers were chosen from The UTD School of Management (SOM)
than from any other university. The conference's "best paper" award went
to SOM faculty member Dr. Srinivasan Raghunathan and his co-authors, Dr.
Huseyin Cavusoglu, a recent graduate of SOM's Ph.D. program, and Hulisi
Ogut, a student in our Ph.D. program. Chosen for leadership roles in their
professional organizations were Dr. Diane McNulty, appointed to the board
of directors of the national Public Affairs Council, and Dr. Chelliah
Sriskandarajah, named associate executive director of the international
society Production and Operations Management. Overall, our faculty weighs
in as one of the top 20 research faculties worldwide across all journals
published by the prestigious academic society INFORMS.

Our magnificent new building has also contributed to our visibility as the
community has recognized this facility as a center for the exchange of
ideas and information on all aspects of business. Such an exchange took
place a few weeks ago when 150 leaders from the worldwide communications
industry assembled here for the Global Communications Strategy Forum,
organized by SOM Professor Sumit Majumdar with support from a large
segment of the corporate community.

Our research centers have also been adding to our visibility. In January,
more than 70 high-ranking directors and members of corporate boards
attended the inaugural seminar of the Institute for Excellence in
Corporate Governance. In April, more than 600 people attended an important
luncheon speech by veteran statesman James A. Baker III that was
co-sponsored by SOM's Leadership Center at UTD and the World Affairs
Council of Greater Dallas.

These are all signs that our school is maturing and finding its place in
the national and international business education community. As we
continue in our development, we thank our alumni and friends for their
support and input in our quest to become one of the leading public
business schools in the nation.


Best wishes,

Hasan Pirkul

Visit our site on the worldwide web http://som.utdallas.edu