The William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration recently ranked 35th in the world and 22nd among U.S. schools by the Financial Times of London.
Based on alumni recommendations, the newspaper also ranked Simon fifth for economics and second for finance in the world, next only to the Leonard N. Stern School of Business.
Mark Zupan, the recently inducted Dean and Professor of Economics and Public Policy, was modest about their achievements. “Rankings are not the be all and end all,” Zupan said. “But you have to pay attention to them and it’s definitely pleasing.”
Zupan also outlined that different rankings have different criteria. “Each ranking has a different set of matrices,” Zupan explained. “This latest one by the Financial Times included the quality of the class of 2000 in terms of job placement rates, starting salaries and other such measures. The class of 2000 did really well in these categories.”
“The Wall Street Journal ranked us from 27th to 22nd to 18th, in the last three years. That was mostly recruiter-based – surveys of how well the graduates performed in team-planning, creativity, work ethics and generally how satisfied the recruiters are,” Zupan added.
As the new dean, Zupan hopes to continue this upward trend. “The fundamental measure is for [alumni] to come back and see and appreciate the improvements made,” Zupan said.
Zupan plans to do this through an internalized approach. “We will talk to faculty and students about how to go about raising our standards,” he said. “Setting high goals and ambitions is definitely in order.”
As a major employer in Rochester, Zupan feels that it is UR’s responsibility to play a major role in the economic prosperity for the city. “Reaching out to area businesses is very important. We look to marry novel ideas with some business aspect. Through this, not only would there be job opportunities locally but also recruiters will come down to look for talent,” Zupan said. “We are the second biggest employer in Rochester. Not only is UR being healthy important for Rochester, but Rochester being healthy for us is important.”
When asked what the future holds for Simon, Zupan emphasized making steady progress. “We are focused on becoming better in the future,” Zupan said. “We want people to see that this will make a better future when they make this investment. It is not be ever complacent with our achievements.”
In one word, Zupan summed up the coming years for the Simon School as “Meliora.”
Madhur can be reached at smadhur@campustimes.org.
