Celebrating a Year of Firsts

The ’23-24 academic year came to a close on May 3 with an amazing graduation ceremony at the Crisler Center, and I could not be more proud of the Class of 2024. They are more prepared than ever to make a positive impact on the world, and I am excited to follow their success and engage with them as newly minted alumni. It was also awesome to toast the Class of 2025 as they wrapped up their first year and officially became MBA2s.

This year’s theme for my Year in Review blog is all about “firsts.” But it’s not about being the best or first place in any one thing — well, sometimes it is — but celebrating the spirit of the Ross School of Business and all Ross students who innovate, take risks, and, simply put, try new things. It’s not in the Michigan Ross DNA to rest on our laurels. As Vincent van Gogh stated, “What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?”

So, with that, I’d like to highlight a few firsts at Ross during the ’23-24 academic year.

Conferences and clubs

At Ross, we are a student-led business school, and our student leaders have facilitated some amazing conferences and launched exciting new clubs. In February, we hosted the annual ClimateCap Conference for the first time. A record number of MBA students across the globe attended to discuss the business implications of climate change. It was amazing to witness the passion in the building and how inspired MBA students are to tackle this monumental challenge.

Speaking of bringing people together, MBA student leaders launched the inaugural Ross Connect Conference, which combined many club conferences into one super conference: it was a resounding success. Lastly, the MBA Council approved two new student clubs: the Aviation Club and the Middle East and North Africa Club. I’m excited to witness the impact they will have on our community.

Admissions celebrations

Admissions is wrapping up another stellar year of recruiting prospective students and ushering them through the admissions process. In January, we trialed a Round 1 admitted student weekend, Ross Winter Welcome, in Ann Arbor. Seventy admitted students and partners engaged with one another, the Sanger Leadership Center, the Career Development Office and attended a mock class on healthcare, among many other programming activities. In Round 2, the Admissions team tried another new event: a virtual Go Blue Rendezvous experience for international students. Over 100 admitted international students registered for the event. I’m happy to share that both Ross Winter Welcome and the International Zoom Go Blue Rendezvous will be back next year!  

Events

At Ross, we have both social and professional programming to uplift the community. One example of a new social program was the “Ross Cup,” which pitted sections against one another in one last friendly competition before graduation (MBA students are competitive, even if it’s karaoke). On a more serious note, the Sanger Leadership Center, for the first time, offered leadership coaching to the Michigan Ross Leaders Endorsement Program (65+ students graduated with the distinction of the Michigan Ross Leader Endorsement).

In April, the Program Office also hosted the first International Graduation Celebration dedicated to the Class of 2024 graduates and their families who traveled from across the globe to earn their MBA at Ross. “Go Blue, Go Anywhere” is true; Rossers are from everywhere. In addition, the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, in partnership with student leaders, led the first Native American Heritage Month event.

Curriculum

Our curriculum continues to innovate and be a leader across the MBA landscape. In fact, the faculty approved and launched the Full-Time MBA Environmental, Social, and Governance Concentration this year. We are the second MBA program so far to provide this kind of educational experience to prepare students for the work they'll step into. Check out some features about us in Poets&Quants and Yahoo! Finance.

Global mindset

Michigan Ross has no shortage of opportunities to study abroad and learn how to be a business leader with a multicultural lens. For example, this year, the Zell Lurie Institute led a group of students on an entrepreneurial trek to Singapore for the first time. Another example of exposing our students to new cultures includes the Global Initiatives team creating two new partnerships for MBA student exchange programs: one at Aalto in Finland and the other at Nagoya in Japan. 

There are many more firsts that are worth mentioning, but this blog post will soon become a dissertation! So, to close out, and in the spirit of firsts, I want to share that I am personally so grateful for being part of this welcoming community, having just completed my first full year as the managing director of the Full-Time MBA Program. I can confidently state that moving to Ann Arbor and leading the MBA Program was the best decision of my life (aside from marrying a Michigan Ross alumna, of course).

Cheers, and Go Blue!

Matt

P.S. The University of Michigan also won our first NCAA Football Championship since 1997, if you hadn’t heard…