October 2024 Message from the Dean
Dear colleagues,
I hope you are enjoying the fall so far. As we approach the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 5, please encourage everyone who is able to vote to do so. Here is a fun video that our students created to help get out the vote – you may get a kick out of it. Also, you may want to check out the university’s Year of Democracy website, which has useful information about voting and the various resources and information available across campus.
On Oct. 25, ahead of the election, we wrapped up our year-long, exclusive partnership with the Financial Times by hosting a special podcast in Robertson Auditorium. Thank you to our faculty, Francine Lafontaine and Erik Gordon, who participated in a panel discussion with experts from the FT about how the business and economic climate is impacting voter sentiment. I’m excited to share that the session was recorded, and the podcast can be heard here.
October was also packed with other important events, including two final centennial celebrations and a major new school campaign.
First, I want to highlight that last week, we held a two-day Ross School of Business Centennial Research Conference, which brought together doctoral program alums, faculty, and current doctoral students to recognize the research accomplishments of the past 100 years. It is absolutely phenomenal to reflect on how accomplished our PhD alums and current faculty are; their own research contributions, as well as their leadership roles at the very top-tier journals and professional associations in their fields, along with their service to their home institutions, are truly remarkable. And to see this leadership across so many business fields is such a testament to the drive of our faculty to do big things. Having so many PhD alums come back to campus for this conference was an incredibly powerful way to cap off our centennial celebrations. Huge thanks to the many of you on the admin support team, as well as all of our faculty and events team who worked so hard to make this a huge success.
And speaking of capping off our centennial celebrations, I want to thank everyone who attended last week’s Centennial Capstone event in the Davidson Winter Garden. It was a pleasure to bring together faculty, staff, and members of our Alumni Board of Governors and Ross School Advisory Board for a final toast to our school’s 100-year anniversary. It was also great that Stephen Ross was able to join us for this.
Finally, on Oct. 24, we hosted a special gathering to celebrate the launch of our new Look to Michigan Ross capital campaign. This is a significant initiative to advance our school’s mission. The main campaign themes revolve around catalyzing tomorrow’s leaders, igniting transformational research, and boldly advancing our reach, reputation, and brand. These themes will allow us to focus on a range of strategic initiatives, including increased support for student scholarships as well as curricular and co-curricular student experiences to ensure we are providing a best-in-class education for our students; funding to support impactful faculty research; and initiatives that extend our reach, such as partnerships like the one with the FT and capital projects (e.g., LA location, enhanced executive residence facilities). There will be many ways to learn more and engage with the campaign in the future.
Before I close, I also want to share that our plans for the upgrades to our Executive Learning and Conference Center are moving forward on schedule. To facilitate these extensive renovations, the Executive Residence and Wyly Hall will be closed, effective Dec. 16. The William Davidson Institute, Office of Executive Education, and a portion of Ross IT will move temporarily to a satellite location on State Street starting in December. We will still provide catering services when these facilities are closed, too. This project will take about two years, and we look forward to how these renovations will better enable us to advance our reputation, reach, and brand through expanded executive education and other learning opportunities in the space. We will continue to share more details about the project and what to expect in future Ross Reports. You can also find additional information about it and our strategic priorities on the Mission in Action page.
As usual, I want to remind everyone of my upcoming office hours, which can be found on the dean’s office webpage. In November, the in-person office hours for faculty and staff will be held in the Winter Garden on the following dates and times:
- Tuesday, Nov. 5, 10-11 a.m.
- Tuesday, Nov. 12, 4:15-5 p.m.
- Tuesday, Nov. 26, 4:15-5 p.m.
Hope everyone has a great rest of the fall, and Go Blue!
Kind regards,
Sharon
