An interview with Wharton Dean, Thomas S. Robertson

In his first spell at Wharton, Tom Robertson spent 23 years as a Professor and then Associate Dean of Executive Education, overseeing the dramatic rise of Executive Education at the school during the late 80s. He left to gain international experience, becoming a Professor and Deputy Dean at London Business School from 1994 to 1998. In 1998 he returned to the US as Dean of Emory’s Goizueta Business School and is credited with building one of the most international schools in the US, whilst also reaching out to developing countries through the joint Emory-Carter Center for Developing Nations. His homecoming to Wharton began in Summer 2007 when he was officially unveiled as the school’s 13th Dean. He is an expert on consumer and competitive behavior with a PhD in marketing from Northwestern University.

How is the diversity profile of students at Wharton changing?

Business education is no longer the domain of white, male, affluent nationals. Wharton has changed a great deal over the 30 plus years I have been involved with the school. The CEO of Siemens, a German Headquartered company, visited our campus this spring, looking to recruit US, Asian and European nationals, emphasizing the trend for employers to seek Wharton graduates for international assignments. The demand for non-domestic students is on the increase. Today Wharton has 40% international students (plus 5% Green Card holders born overseas), above the average for a US business school.

We will continue to seek greater international diversity, and more importantly, greater international economic diversity, which is a challenge because it means we will have to offer more scholarships. Even domestically we will seek more economic diversity and from 2009, anyone will be eligible to request financial aid.

How will Wharton reach out to its international community?

The Wharton curricula are already highly international. In particular, our Lauder Institute (MBA-MA) and Huntsman Institute (Wharton and Arts and Sciences) deliver advanced international curricula. Our Wharton-INSEAD alliance fosters international faculty and student exchanges.

Should Wharton go further and fly the flag in other countries, by offering degrees under the Wharton name? Our strategy so far has been to help establish business schools in other parts of the world. We were instrumental in helping design the curricula of Singapore Management University, the Indian School of Business and Sasin Business School in Bangkok. Although I won’t rule out a Wharton overseas degree in the future, there are no immediate plans.

Where has Wharton made an impact on issues like poverty, global warming, healthcare and where you expect to make a major impact in the future?

When Joseph Wharton founded the school almost 128 years ago, he intended it to be a force for social good, and we remain committed to this philosophy. Business schools in general focus on the developed economies, largely ignoring three quarters of the countries in the world.

Much of the problem in underdeveloped nations is a lack of management capability and entrepreneurship. Wharton is at the forefront of creating social impact. Our faculty is active in entrepreneurial capacity-building initiatives domestically and around the world. For example, Professor Ian MacMillan has been working on projects in Zambia, in partnership with the Penn Veterinary School, to increase yields on chicken feed – an entrepreneurial initiative, which is active on the ground and successful. The University is also very active in Botswana helping to improve the AIDS situation. Our Zicklin Centre for Social Responsibility is working with the World Bank and United Nations to foster international development. Wharton is partnering with a leading investment bank to foster female entrepreneurship in emerging markets. These are just a few of the initiatives currently underway.

How can MBA students become involved in tackling these issues?

Almost 50% of our students become involved in socially responsible projects during their time at Wharton. There are many student-run consulting projects aiding businesses in developing countries to access developed markets.

In Fall 2008 our students are hosting the Net Impact Conference and will welcome well over 1,000 students, government and NGO representatives to Wharton from throughout the world, to discuss corporate social responsibility and social entrepreneurship. Such conferences won’t change the world, but they can point people who are passionate about these issues in the right direction.

How will Wharton work with the University of Pennsylvania to tackle some of the big issues of the day?

The University of Pennsylvania has a single, integrated campus with many well funded institutes and departments, operating at the leading edge of technologies. Wharton professors are working on many global health initiatives – Roy Vagelos (ex-CEO of Merck) funded the Institute for Life Science Research, which attracts top undergraduate students. Our Mack Centre works with engineering, medicine and life sciences on research programs, with a view to the creation and diffusion of innovation, turning ideas into commercial realities. Our entrepreneurship programs focus on enterprise formation in research, teaching, and the availability of laboratories for the launch of new enterprises. We are aligned with faculty in other fields studying nanotechnology, informatics and the human genome system. We expect our students’ careers to encompass technologies and products that do not yet exist. Wharton can be instrumental in educating our students to compete in industries of the future.

Source: QS TopMBA.com