Campaign Priorities
A Message from the Dean
Professor Glenn Hubbard
Columbia Business School’s reputation as a premier business school rests on three pillars: faculty members who lead in generating ideas in their fields and across disciplines, a dynamic and engaged alumni network, and the School’s unique ability to connect academic theory with real-world business practice. For the past 20 years, the School has worked tirelessly to unlock its full potential as a source of ideas and talent, focusing primarily on intellectual capital investments, with impressive results in that arena. Today, thanks to the support and involvement of so many members of our community, we have the people and programs of a first-rate institution, yet, unfortunately, our current facilities do not meet the same high standards.
As the School now confronts and seeks to overcome its physical limitations through the construction of a new campus in Manhattanville, it is important to bear in mind that building a new home is about much more than bricks and mortar. At its core, Manhattanville — and indeed every one of Columbia Business School’s priorities — is about supporting the growth of people and ideas. New facilities designed to foster collaboration and community will enhance interactions among students, faculty members, alumni, and business practitioners, helping to drive the innovative thinking that is the hallmark of Columbia Business School to the next level, which will in turn influence business practice across the globe for the better. A belief in this mission is what inspired Henry Kravis ’69 to make his generous gift of $100 million toward the project, for which we are and will continue to be enormously grateful.
As an organization dedicated to the development of people and ideas, the School will always need to invest in its people and programs. Though we have technically achieved the $200 million goal of the initial People and Programs phase of the School’s capital campaign, we cannot rest on our laurels. For example, there are still exceptional students in need of financial aid, original faculty research in need of support, and curricular innovations in need of seed funding. These perpetual needs underscore the importance of annual giving, the smaller gifts toward the Columbia Business Fund and EMBA Fund that are crucial to maintaining the overall quality of the School and its programs.
Thank you for helping to ensure that Columbia remains a truly great, thriving business school, cultivating the kinds of people and ideas that have the power to shape the world.
Glenn Hubbard
Dean and Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics
