Wharton and Lauder Institute Celebrate 30th Anniversary: MBA News

The Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, offering joint degrees combining the Wharton MBA with an MA in International Studies from Penn's School of Arts and Sciences, marked thirty years since its inception with a series of alumni events over the weekend.

Founded in 1983 by Ronald S. Lauder and Leonard A. Lauder, chairman emeritus of the Estée Lauder Companies, the Lauder Institute’s chief aim was one of providing MBA candidates with the enhanced foreign language skills and international business acumen required in a rapidly expanding global economy.

Through its partnership with the Wharton School and Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences, business education from the Wharton MBA program is supplemented with advanced language and foreign culture training, featuring a two-month in-country immersion program that also demands a Master’s thesis come its conclusion.

“We have alumni drawing on their Lauder education and experience every day in high-profile positions with global companies such as PepsiCo and McKinsey. They speak the language of business, whether in Hindi or in Chinese - and they speak it fluently”, said Mauro Guillén, Director of the Lauder Institute in a press release.

Nine advanced language programs available in conjunction with Wharton MBA

The two-year program offering the Wharton MBA with an international management twist was proclaimed as the first joint-degree of its kind when it was originally introduced.

Thirty years on and the scope of the Lauder Institute’s staff-dedicated teaching languages has grown to encompass programs in nine languages - Hindi, Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, French, German and Russian.

In addition, 2013 saw the launch of the institute’s Global Program, specifically designed for multilingual MBA students who do not wish to be constrained to a single language program. This latest program serves as further evidence of the globalization that originally spurred the Lauders into creating the institute.

Speaking of the institute’s alumni, Ronald S. Lauder said, “They are the result of a truly exceptional business education that gave them the skills and knowledge to navigate international business environments and connect with others on a pragmatic, cultural level.”

The celebratory events took place at the Grand Hyatt, Neue Galerie and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. A keynote address was given by Indra Nooyi, chairman and CEO of PepsiCo (pictured above with Ronald S. Lauder.) In her speech, she emphasized the multiplicity required in equipping business school students with the tools needed to thrive; “We must train students to operate effortlessly in a multi-stakeholder, multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural, and multi-dimensional world”, said Nooyi, herself a graduate of both IIM Calcutta and Yale School of Management.

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image source: PR Newswire