Brandeis International Business School

Dear Brandeis International Business School Community,

The Fall 2022 semester is in full swing. Classes began in late August and I am pleased to report that students are focused and energized. The campus is brimming with activity and collaboration among students, faculty and staff — it’s a pleasant return to familiar routines as we welcome the arrival of cooler weather here in Waltham.

Early semester highlights have included the always popular Boston Harbor cruise, which concluded our new-student orientation, and an insightful alumni panel sponsored by the International Business School’s Asset Management Council. My sincere thanks go out to Deborah Shufrin ’93, David Magid ’08 and Pia McCusker ’92, MSF’00 for sharing their insights about the financial markets with our students. We’re always eager to engage with our alumni. Please send us a quick note at businessalumni@brandeis.edu if you would like to get involved and we’ll be in touch!

Our student body this year represents 52 countries. Enrollment is solid in each of our four master’s programs as well as the PhD program. Career outcomes also continue to be a strength, with overall employment rates and average starting U.S. salaries on the rise among our recent graduates. At the undergraduate level, business and economics remain among the most popular majors at Brandeis University.

This calendar year has been one of our strongest for fundraising in recent memory. In April, Board of Advisors members Barbara Clarke, MA’91 and Alan Hassenfeld, H’20 helped us launch the Peace Scholarship Fund for students displaced from Ukraine and other war-torn countries. To date, alumni, friends, faculty and staff have raised more than $700,000 to support this effort. Our first Peace Scholarship student, Sofiia Tarasiuk, MBA’24 of Kyiv, Ukraine, began her program of study in August and we were thrilled to welcome her to campus. Please consider making a gift to the Peace Scholarship Fund today.

Also over the summer, Clarke pledged an additional $4 million to establish an endowed faculty chair. The Distinguished Brandeis Faculty Chair in Business will support a senior faculty member from a historically underrepresented population in the academic fields of business, finance or economics. I’d like to thank Barbara, Alan and all our donors for their generous support.

We have a number of exciting events coming up, starting with our sponsorship of Boston Fintech Week. On Sept. 29, the business school will host three faculty-led panels exploring the intersection of finance and technology, including a discussion between Prof. Stephen Cecchetti and Eric Rosengren, former president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. We’ll be in New York City Oct. 19 for an Alumni Networking Night, with future alumni events in the works for Chicago and Washington, D.C. — look for invites in your inbox, or fill out this form if you recently changed your address and want to stay connected about events in your area. Our students will also be traveling on an Industry Trek to New York City this fall, and to India and Israel next semester as part of the Hassenfeld Immersion Program.

I wish you a pleasant and successful fall. For those celebrating the upcoming holiday of Rosh Hashanah, I also wish you a sweet New Year. Thank you for all that you do in support of Brandeis International Business School.

Sincerely,Kathryn Graddy
Dean, Brandeis International Business School
Fred and Rita Richman Distinguished Professor in Economics