University at Buffalo School of Management

Autumn 2023 Buffalo Business 11 In 1997, the school's part-time MBA program was transformed into the Professional MBA program, creating a more convenient and streamlined evening program for working professionals. With the 1998 launch of the first-ever Executive MBA program in China, the school made a historic return to the country where it forged its reputation as a leader in international management education. Offered at Renmin University of China in Beijing, the new program was created to provide top executives with an education in Western-style management practices. "Our first class is representative of the complex, changing economic climate of China," said Lewis Mandell, who had taken the helm as dean that year. "We have a mix of executives from U.S. corporations, European corpora- tions and Chinese state-owned enterprises. For business to compete in the world marketplace, it is imperative that the country's top executives learn new ways of thinking and working." The school was praised by BusinessWeek as "a pio- neer in the Asian market for management education." Back on American soil, the school launched an inno- vative new competency-building course for its MBAs called Leadership PACE (Personal Achievement through Competency Evaluation). The course was created to help MBA students develop the intangible skills that make the difference between being a good executive and a great one. "We went directly to corporate recruiters and asked what traits they most desire in their employees," explained Jerry Newman, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus and champion of the program. "Then we created a program designed to develop exactly those skills in our MBAs." With Dean John M. Thomas at the helm from 2002 to 2008, the school developed new curricular initiatives in technology entrepreneurship and global services and supply management, as well as a new Master of Science in Management of Information Technology Services in India, in collaboration with Amrita University and Hewlett Packard. Thomas has been credited with making UB a leader in international management education. Construction of the three-story, 23,000-square-foot Alfiero Center was completed in 2005. An architectural masterpiece of glass, brick, space and light, the center is entirely student-focused and is now the hub of student life in the school. Alfiero Center houses academic advising and career development offices that assist more than 3,000 management students each year. It features three high- tech lecture halls, a café, a suite of offices for student orga- nizations and multiple team breakout rooms. The Alfiero Center was the first academic facility at UB, and one of only a few in the SUNY system, to be funded primarily through private donations. Gis from more than 150 alumni, friends, foundations and corporations provided the majority of the funding for the $7 million center. The center itself is named for the chair and CEO of Protective Industries, Sal H. Alfiero, and his wife, Jeanne, who made a $2 million gi to the school. A curriculum for a new era Arjang Assad became dean in 2008 when Thomas elected to return to his faculty role. During his tenure, Assad led a comprehensive revision of the MBA " For business to compete in the world marketplace, it is imperative that the country's top executives learn new ways of thinking and working." Lewis Mandell Dean (1998-2001) Prasad Balkundi, associate professor of organization and human resources, teaches a class in Paula's Plaza. Photo: Douglas Levere

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