Brandeis International Business School

Dear Students, Alumni and Friends,

A new academic year at Brandeis International Business School is upon us. We are thrilled to welcome an entering class of 270 students from 32 countries — the second largest in our school’s history. Additionally, some 130 business majors and 40 business minors are set to graduate from Brandeis University in 2020. The year is off to a very smooth start after a wonderful new-student orientation. The Boston Harbor cruise at the end of orientation week is always a highlight. I enjoyed meeting many of you!

Our 25th anniversary celebration continues Sept. 20-22 with an all-alumni Reunion Weekend. Please take a moment to register now if you haven’t already. The event will feature a conversation with former Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen, engaging panels and presentations led by faculty and alumni, and a party at Fenway Park. Reunion Weekend also marks 30 years since our first graduates of the flagship Lemberg Program in International Economics and Finance received their diplomas.

We’re welcoming three new full-time faculty members to the International Business School this semester: Ying Becker, MSF '01 (WPI PhD), Xavi Vidal-Berastain (Rochester PhD) and Phillippe Wells (Harvard PhD). Our program management team continues to be strong. Professor Dan Bergstresser is our new undergraduate Business Program director. Debarshi Nandy, recently named the Barbara and Richard M. Rosenberg Professor of Global Finance, will direct the Master of Science in Finance (MSF) program. Together, Bergstresser and Nandy will also co-direct the Rosenberg Institute of Global Finance.

The fall semester marks the start of the new FinTech concentration in the MSF program. In an independent report released earlier this year, the International Business School was lauded as a global FinTech leader alongside MIT and Pennsylvania, Columbia, Stanford, Georgetown and Oxford universities. And next week, thanks to support from our Centers and Institutes, we are participating in a number of events in Boston, including Boston FinTech Week, the MassChallenge FinTech 2020 Launch, and the MassChallenge Israel 2019 awards ceremony.  

Later this semester, the Perlmutter Institute for Global Business Leadership is co-sponsoring our participation in World Boston’s Consuls Reception, aligning with our interest in promoting global cooperation. In the spring, the Asper Center for Global Entrepreneurship is planning an exciting week of events focused on the business of climate change that will feature an appearance by Thomas Friedman '75. We are also excited to launch a new program in Israel next summer in partnership with IDC Herzliya that will complement our Hassenfeld Fellow Overseas Immersion Program. In addition to taking classes, students who participate in the new program will get the chance to intern at an Israeli startup.

It’s an exciting time to be at the International Business School. I am looking forward to a productive academic year and wish you all success.

Sincerely,Kathryn Graddy
Dean