WWU’s MBA Program Ranked 87th in World
Contact(s):	Matthew Liao-Troth, associate professor of Business and Economics, at (360) 650-2183 Matthew.Liao-Troth@wwu.edu	10/17/2007

Western Washington University’s MBA program has been ranked in the top 100 programs worldwide by the Aspen Institute.

WWU’s program finished 87th out of approximately 600 business schools invited to participate in the survey, which ranks the programs not only on mainstream academic content, but on the institution’s efforts to integrate social and environmental concerns as well. Stanford’s MBA program finished atop the list.

“It’s a nice validation of our orientation toward what a business degree means,” said Brian Burton, dean of Western’s College of Business and Economics. “Its goes beyond the technical aspect.”

The criteria used to formulate the schools rank focuses on how well programs integrate social and environmental issues into the curriculum by:

• Student opportunity - The number of courses the program offers containing social and environmental content.
• Student exposure - The amount of time in each course dedicated to the study of social and environmental issues.
• Course content - An evaluation of the importance placed on incorporating social and environmental issues into responsible business.
• Faculty research - Considers the number of relevant faculty written peer-reviewed articles that have been published on the integration of social and economic issues into business and economics.

The Aspen Institute will recognize Western’s achievement by highlighting the College of Business and Economics on their new Web site, listing the school in their printed publication and will provide a physical award at a breakfast ceremony Nov. 16 in New York City.

Burton credits the program’s ranking to the college’s faculty, who he said support an ethical approach to economics through their commitment, belief, and follow-through of the inclusion of environmental and ethic concerns in the program’s curriculum.

WWU and Washington State University were the only in-state programs to make the list.

“Our ranking is spectacular given the fact that our program is small and we do not have a chapter of Net Impact (a national MBA association for corporate responsibility),” said Matthew Liao-Troth, director the MBA program.

The college is planning on adding a new elective beginning winter quarter in Environmental Management that will be taught by Associate Management Professor Craig Dunn, Liao-Troth said. He anticipates that the new course will help the college to move up on the list for 2009.

The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion of social and environmental values through nonpartisan studies and research. The institute, founded in 1950, has headquarters in Washington D.C. and campuses in Aspen, Colorado and in Maryland as well as internationally in Tokyo, Rome, Berlin, Lyon, New Delhi and Bucharest. For more information about the Aspen Institute visit http://www.aspeninstitute.org.

For more information contact Matthew Liao-Troth at (360) 650-2183 or Matthew.Liao-Troth@wwu.edu.