to thewind? Caution - University of Edinburgh Business School

head of school reportschool newsGrowth intimes of crisisGiving backONE ALUMNUS IS FUNDING A ONE-YEAR SCHOLARSHIPFOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS TO GIVE OVERSEASSTUDENTS THE OPPORTUNITIES HE ENJOYEDThe current economic gloom is as deep as many ofus have ever known with some of the weaknessesof global financial systems painfully exposed. Alsoexposed are the tremendous interdependencies ofcorporations and economies across the globe. We live indramatic and exciting times.Here in Edinburgh, much of the speculation isaround what will happen to Halifax/Bank of Scotlandand Royal Bank of Scotland following the merger of theformer with Lloyds TSB and the government assistancethat has been poured into the latter. Of course, thereare many other financial institutions around Edinburghwhich will also be affected by the downturn, but thesetwo giants are receiving most attention. More optimisticcommentators say that Edinburgh may turn out to be anet beneficiary of restructuring in the financial servicessector. We shall see.At the School, we are watching carefully to see howthe economic climate will affect us. Business education,particularly at postgraduate level, tends to be countercyclical,with many people using recession as a time ofopportunity to rethink their careers. Others choose totake a year off to upskill at a time when advancementopportunities with their current employers are limited.Looking at the level of applications for places on ourpostgraduate programmes compared with last year, weare seeing a significant increase – nearly 60 per centabove the level of the same time last year.Some of this growth is due to the launch of newprogrammes – both our Masters in Accounting andFinance and in Carbon Management are doingparticularly well – but applications for longerestablishedprogrammes are also showing a healthyincrease of 15 to 20 per cent. More gratifying still is thatour conversion rate of offers to acceptances is up‘SOME OF OUR GROWTH IS DUE TO THE LAUNCH OF NEWPROGRAMMES – BOTH OUR MASTERS IN ACCOUNTING ANDFINANCE AND IN CARBON MANAGEMENT ARE DOINGPARTICULARLY WELL – BUT APPLICATIONS TO LONGER-ESTABLISHEDPROGRAMMES ARE ALSO SHOWING A HEALTHY INCREASE’Nick Oliversignificantly, indicating that we are becoming a moreand more desirable choice for prospective students.A major piece of news since the last issue ofAluminate is that work started on the new building forthe Business School in August. This £17mrefurbishment of the Adam Ferguson Building onGeorge Square will take nearly two years to complete.We are scheduled to move in during the summer of2010. The new building will transform the School.Aside from eliminating the inconvenience of beinglocated on the two sites of Bristo Square and the WilliamRobertson Building, our new accommodation willprovide great facilities for postgraduate and executiveprogrammes as well as housing all the staff of the School.Another exciting development is the arrival of severalnew members of faculty over the last few months. Twonew professors joined the Accounting and Financegroup – Pauline Weetman from the University ofGlasgow and Bill Rees, previously Dean of AmsterdamBusiness School. Sarah Cooper joined us fromStrathclyde as a Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurshipand Brad MacKay from the University of St Andrewstook on the role of Senior Lecturer in Strategy. We stillhave further posts to fill in Entrepreneurship and inInternational Business, and are continuing to search fortop faculty to fill these.In the current economic climate, communities ofalumni are more important than ever. They can serve asnetworks for intelligence about what is going on indifferent sectors or different countries; they can providesupport and sympathy through difficult times; and mostimportantly, they can provide information andopportunities for their members. Our alumni networkis extremely important to us here at the University ofEdinburgh Business School. I am always delighted tohear from you, either about your activities since you leftEdinburgh, or just to hear about anything that you thinkit would be useful for us to know about. Please do feelfree to get in touch.Nick OliverHead of SchoolMBA scholarshipsCameron Ironside’s dreamof studying at a worldrenownedbusiness schoolhas become reality thanks to thegenerosity of one alumnus.Edinburgh graduate VictorLoewenstein has funded thescholarship for the South Africanstudent for the first year, and otheroverseas students in each of thefollowing four years, to give themthe same kinds of opportunities thathe was given.Victor explained: ‘A British nationalbut raised in Portugal, I came toEdinburgh almost as a foreign studentand my studies and subsistence werefinanced by a member of my closefamily. I can therefore relate to thosewho have chosen – as I did – a majorand world-renowned academicinstitution, but who may not beable to afford the tuition and relatedcosts associated with a graduateprogramme.‘The University of Edinburghgave me an academic “baggage”which I was able to use throughoutmy professional life. It also gave memy first exposure to an internationaland multi-racial environment,SCHOLARSHIPS ON THE RISEThe scholarship from Victor Loewenstein isjust one of four scholarships, each worth£5,000, which are available each year due tohelp from alumni.As a result of a donation from GordonMcCulloch who graduated with an MA(Hons) inPolitics in 1986, the Gordon R McCullochScholarship was awarded to Harrison Mordi-reflected by the student populationwhich surrounded me during thosestudent years. In addition, theUniversity gave me the opportunityof integrating an internationalstudent association – AIESEC – thatprovided me with the people skills,self-confidence and public-speakingcompetencies which are essential toachieve ambitious career goals.‘Shortly after graduation I waselected Secretary General of AIESECInternational in Geneva, anopportunity I would not have had, hadit not all begun back in Edinburgh.‘Now retired, after close to a40-year career in managementconsulting, I feel that the time hascome to give something back tosociety for the personal andprofessional fortunes I have had.‘This is why I hope that mymodest contribution will allowother “foreigners” to achieve theirdream of studying in such a leadingand well-recognised university.‘This will be their stepping-stonefor the future, but only theirsubsequent personal efforts andcommitment will turn thisexceptional opportunity into longtermprofessional success andpersonal satisfaction.’RIGHT:VictorLoewenstein(left) wantsCameronIronside to get‘exceptionalopportunities’Williams from Nigeria.Two Calum Miller Scholarships were madepossible thanks to a donation from alumniDavid Millar and Tina Marinos. The scholarshipswere awarded this year to Lekshmi Nair fromIndia and Berislav Prpic from Croatia.The School also awarded three 25thAnniversary Scholarships, worth £5,000,to Nkese Udongwo and Solomon Okopi, bothfrom Nigeria, and to Sasithorn Supatanakomkijfrom Thailand.We are also grateful to Citi and Abbey whofund scholarships for postgraduate students.MBA recipients this year were KayDausendschoen from Germany (Citi) and CarlosIsoard Freyssinier from Mexico (Abbey).Picture: Jonathan Littlejohn4 | aluminate | april 2009 www.alumninet.man.ed.ac.ukwww.alumninet.man.ed.ac.uk april 2009 | aluminate | 5