MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN

In this issue, we focus on new initiatives the school is taking on
several important topics, ranging from business school research to
international management education to women in corporate governance.

One of our most important recent undertakings, the UTD Top 100 Business
School Rankings, has received widespread favorable reaction across the
country and internationally. This database - the most comprehensive of
its kind ever undertaken - ranks the top 100 business schools on the
basis of the research productivity of their faculty members in 22 top
academic business journals, and it provides a tool for both faculty and
administrators to do benchmarking against their peers. The database has
drawn the interest of national and international media outlets, which
recognize that research is an integral part of the work of institutions
of higher education. In addition, business schools around the world have
welcomed our initiative as an important measure of excellence in
business education.

This spring, we have also initiated several new programs in The School
of Management. The first is a new master's degree program in cooperation
with our colleagues in UTD's Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and
Computer Sciences. This new joint degree program, which will begin in
the fall, will allow electrical engineering master's degree students to
concurrently obtain a Master of Business Administration degree. We are
instituting this new degree in response to requests from industry and in
recognition of the tremendous need in today's world for engineers who
understand their businesses from a management perspective. Another new
program, begun this semester, is our Bachelor of Science in Finance
degree. It is designed to help students develop the high level of
quantitative skills needed to analyze financial information and the
analytical foundation needed for making corporate decisions. Also, on
the undergraduate level, we are starting an honors program designed to
provide an enhanced educational experience for our most motivated
students. The program, already popular among our best students, offers
intellectually stimulating honors courses and helps students develop
their networking skills, a closer interaction with faculty members and a
better understanding of the Dallas business sector.

To support these expansions in our curriculum and our continued growth
in enrollment, we are busy hiring new faculty. This year, our goal is to
hire 10 new faculty members. The growth in faculty and enrollment is a
welcome sign that we are continuing to develop into the size of school
that can compete with the larger schools ahead of us in the rankings. As
we go to press, our faculty is listed as 37th in North America in
research productivity, while our Cohort MBA Program is ranked 64th in
the nation and 35th among public business schools by U.S. News & World
Report. Our Executive MBA is ranked 62nd in the world and 32nd in the
nation by Financial Times. These rankings show that we are making
progress toward our goal of becoming one of the leading public business
schools in the United States, and we expect our continued growth to
contribute to our success in reaching this goal.

As we continue with our initiatives, we thank our alumni and friends for
their encouragement, and we invite their further support and input.

Best Wishes,

Hasan Pirkul

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