Dear Alumni and Friends:
It is my pleasure to thank the thousands of you who gave back to Columbia Business School in the 2011–12 academic year. Your support of the School’s many initiatives sent a clear message to the entire Columbia community: You are invested in the advancement of the School, its students, and its contributions to global business. I am humbled by the remarkable leadership and generosity of this institution’s vibrant network.
A hallmark of Columbia’s greatness has always been its determination to improve upon its past accomplishments, and 2011–12 has once again exemplified this lofty ambition. This year the School hosted two reunions: Reunion Weekend in New York and the Pan-European Reunion in London. These terrific events brought together more than 2,500 alumni from 37 countries who reconnected with one another and the School while also breaking records with their generous gifts.
Additionally, I am pleased that the Columbia Business Fund has seen its fifth consecutive year of growth. The remarkable outpouring of support for this fund helps to provide the foundation for the academic improvements that maintain Columbia’s position at the forefront of global management education. Among these improvements is the newly launched Columbia EMBA-Americas program, an exciting and novel degree option that will enable executives located throughout the United States, Canada, and Latin America to pursue a Columbia MBA.
Plans for the School’s future home on the Manhattanville Campus continue to move forward. Thanks to leadership gifts to this initiative, including a recent $25 million pledge from Leon Cooperman ’67, the Manhattanville facilities promise a physical space befitting Columbia’s intellectual stature.
As you explore this year’s Report to Investors, I hope you will take pride in another successful year at Columbia Business School and look, as I do, with optimism and enthusiasm toward the future.
With regards,
Glenn Hubbard
Dean and Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics