message from Dean Brown

AN INVALUABLE RESOURCE

The College Dean's Advisory Council provides important perspective on business education

Preparing our students for the many challenges of a competitive global business environment is a primary focus of the College.  A strong grounding in the core disciplines, coupled with the application of the theory to practice, continues to be the hallmark of a Lehigh business education. We strive to have our students "connect the dots" across the social science, engineering and business disciplines to ready themselves as the leaders of tomorrow.

We have experienced unprecedented economic times over the past five years.  The textbooks of "yesterday" cannot fully capture the on-going lessons learned in recent years. Textbooks are in the process of being re-written as we continue to decipher what business phenomena transpired in the first decade of this century.

As an educator, I cannot recall there being a more critical need of real-world application and best-practices discussions than now.  And as a dean, I have never been more grateful for the advice and support of the College's Dean's Advisory Council.

The Dean's Advisory Council (DAC), is a select group of successful alumni, parents and friends of the College.  The College has been fortunate to have had the advice and guidance of many of our prestigious alumni since the Council's inception in 1990. (An honor roll of Council members since 1990 can be found here.)  Many of the initial Council members were instrumental in raising funds for the building of Rauch Business Center.

Council members have a business focus with broad representation from diverse organizations and working backgrounds. They have been an invaluable resource to the College as we strive to attain the highest level of quality in undergraduate and graduate education.

From visiting campus and participating in classroom discussions or hosting a day at their corporate headquarters, to providing internships and subsequent full employment, Council members are actively engaged with our students. They offer advice and counsel to students as they navigate the competitive employment environment, and upon graduation, welcome our graduates as the newest members of the Lehigh Alumni Network.

Their business experiences provide important insight into the ever-evolving business needs of today as the faculty works to ensure that our curriculum is relevant. We felt fortunate to have the DAC provide valuable feedback as we crafted the CBE Strategic Plan which was faculty endorsed in 2010.

Over the years, the financial support of the Council has been very helpful in achieving so many of our goals. For example, their personal donations, gifts-in-kind, and fundraising efforts were instrumental in the launching of the Financial Services Laboratory (FSL). This state-of-the-art wireless computer classroom in the Rauch Business Center is dedicated to the study of financial data, software, and service. It is an integral part of the business curriculum and provides our students with a competitive edge as they seek full employment.

Lehigh's College of Business and Economics continues to be recognized for its top-ranked undergraduate business program and part-time MBA program.  As we strive to take the College to the next level of excellence, we realize the importance of the advice and support of loyal and engaged alumni, parents and friends such as the College's Deans Advisory Council.

With tremendous appreciation, a warm thank you to all Council members past and present!