Dean Dipak C. Jain, the Sandy and Morton Goldman Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies, discusses the Kellogg School's leadership philosophy with an audience of admitted students during Day at Kellogg in February.  Photo © Nathan Mandell

Letter from the Dean

Dear Kellogg School Alumni and Friends,

John Cage, the American composer and philosopher, once said, "I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas; I'm frightened of old ones." In describing his early life, Cage revealed that his father, an inventor, provided this advice: If someone tells you "can't" that shows you what to do. 

It's this sense of fearlessness and determination to innovate that historically has guided the Kellogg School. In particular, our entrepreneurship program — rated among the top three in the U.S. — has been very active creating valuable opportunities for our students and alumni, as you will read in this edition of Kellogg World.

In addition, our entrepreneurial collaboration with alumni and Northwestern University has yielded great mutual wins. Seventeen years ago, Kellogg and Northwestern partnered to develop the Master of Management and Manufacturing Program, a unique dual-degree offering with the McCormick School of Engineering that teaches students how to turn technological breakthroughs into sound business proposals. The program has proven a success due to the efforts of students, faculty and administrators. This magazine's cover pictures some of those who have played key roles in the collaboration, including Northwestern President Henry Bienen, Senior Associate Dean Sunil Chopra, Professor Steven Rogers, McCormick Dean Julio M. Ottino, as well as alumni benefactors such as Larry Levy '67. Others, including Crate & Barrel Co-Founders Gordon Segal '60 and Carole Browe Segal (NU '60) have also made important contributions to support innovation and entrepreneurship at Kellogg and Northwestern.

Kellogg continues to drive innovation in other ways, including by establishing a new undergraduate certificate program. This offering, developed in conjunction with Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences and the McCormick School, enables NU students to pursue study in two areas: Financial Economics (which begins this September) and Managerial Analytics (beginning September 2008). Each program will admit about 50 highly qualified students. While the certificate does not confer a degree, it does give undergraduates excellent exposure to business concepts that can prove enormously valuable to their professional aspirations, especially since more employers are seeking younger graduates who demonstrate some ability with management frameworks.

We are also collaborating on another pathblazing initiative, this one with Johns Hopkins, to deliver an executive education offering designed to bring science and business together. Bridging these worlds is especially needed to create value in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical fields. See page 4 to learn more. A related advance in our curriculum is the new Medical Innovation: Developing Biomedical Products from Patients to Market, a course that will leverage the collaborative power of Kellogg and Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine, the School of Law and the McCormick School. Led by an interdisciplinary team, the unique class explores the intersection of business, medicine, law and engineering.

Innovation also continues in our part-time curriculum, The Managers' Program, where we are launching a Saturday MBA Program. This enhancement offers the Kellogg experience to those whose schedules do not allow them to participate in our established Evening MBA Program (which is continuing). Details of this initiative, as well as our move to rebrand the part-time curriculum, appear in this issue.

Finally, we anticipate another outstanding Reunion Weekend on May 4 to 6. Our Alumni Relations team has been working to ensure that your return to Evanston is rewarding and enriching. For those of you reconnecting with Kellogg at Reunion, we promise a fulfilling experience. Of course, we invite all our alumni and friends to remain a part of the Kellogg School. Together, our passion and ideas will keep Kellogg among management education's leaders as we help solve critical challenges in business and society. Let us all aim high and achieve our aspirations.

Warmest personal regards,

Dipak C. Jain