Feb. 15, 1999
VOL. 28, NO. 22
  

University Launches an MBA Program

By Neil A. Grauer
School of Continuing Studies
(now the School of Professional Studies in Business and Education)

 

Johns Hopkins Gazette Online Edition

Broadening its extensive graduate business offerings in the competitive Baltimore-Washington market, the universityıs Graduate Division of Business and Management will announce today a new Master of Business Administration program, beginning in September 1999.

"The MBA generally is recognized as the 'coin of the realm' for graduate business education," said Stanley C. Gabor, dean of the School of Continuing Studies (now the School of Professional Studies in Business and Education). "Over the years, our current Master of Science in Business evolved into an MBA, and it was only logical to rename it," Gabor said. "In fact, a recent evaluation by business faculty from Northwestern, New York University and Emory confirmed that we were on the right track."

Gabor said that a primary reason for the change was "the strong desire expressed by both current and former students to be able to hold an MBA from Hopkins." By creating an MBA that is similar to the existing MSB, both current MSB students and those who already have the degree will be able earn an MBA once it becomes available in September.

The new Hopkins MBA was approved by the Maryland Higher Education Commission and becomes the keystone of a graduate business program accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Universities. The MBA builds on the strengths of the present MSB by introducing courses to enhance students' skills in managerial communications and analytical decision making.

"We feel that the professional needs and career objectives of our students can best be met by offering this new degree," Gabor said. "In addition, since the Hopkins name is recognized nationally and internationally, the Hopkins MBA will travel well around the world."

Named as the Hopkins MBA director is H. Gene Swanson, formerly a finance professor at Cornell University and Loyola College, where he taught corporate finance, investment analysis and financial management. He has published in numerous academic journals and in 1993 was recognized as one of Loyola's outstanding faculty members. He is a member of the Baltimore Security Analysts Society, the Association for Investment Management and Research and the Financial Management Association.

A native of Oklahoma, Swanson obtained his bachelor's degree in engineering and his master's and doctorate in business administration from the University of Oklahoma.

In announcing the appointment of Swanson, Gabor said, "We are confident that Gene Swansonıs extensive academic and business experience will ensure that Hopkins' MBA program maintains the excellence for which the university is renowned."

"In today's intensely competitive and sophisticated educational market, students have more choice than ever before," Swanson said. "So we at Hopkins designed our MBA program to enable them to acquire not only essential communications, computing and analytical skills but the ability to use those skills to make strategic business decisions within an increasingly global business environment.

"A recent Wall Street Journal article cited the ability to communicate as first among the qualities employers seek in potential hires," Swanson said. "Our new managerial communication course in the MBA will enhance a student's ability to make presentations, write business reports and plans, and interact with managers and employers across functions--and cultures. A relatively small number of business schools, such as Cornell, Dartmouth and the University of Southern California," he continued, "address cross-cultural communication as part of this increasingly critical discipline, and Hopkins now will join this group by offering such an in-depth managerial communication focus."

Although Hopkins will not accept students into the MSB program after May 1, 1999, current students may elect to continue with the MSB and have until September 2005 to complete the degree, Swanson explained.

The Hopkins School of Continuing Studies (now the School of Professional Studies in Business and Education) has approximately 2,500 students enrolled in its Graduate Division of Business and Management, making it the ninth largest part-time business program in the country. At present, almost 1,000 students are enrolled in the MSB program, which has graduated approximately 2,000 business professionals since May 1992.

The division also offers specialized master's degrees in marketing, information and telecommunication systems, real estate, and organizational development and human resources, in addition to a wide range of certificate programs, on its Homewood campus and at its centers in downtown Baltimore, Columbia, Rockville and Washington.


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