Wharton School’s Association with Indian School of Business Renewed

Philadelphia, PA, June 18, 2007 -- The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania has announced the renewal of its association with the Indian School of Business (ISB) in Hyderabad, India for five more years. ISB is a one-of-a-kind institution created in June 2001 with support from 50 of the world’s top corporations and two U.S.-based business schools – Wharton and Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. The initial success of this association between Wharton and ISB prompted its renewal as well as the launch of an ISB-Wharton Joint Research Initiative that will encourage joint research between Wharton and ISB faculty, including curriculum development.

Wharton School Dean Patrick Harker said, “We are confident that our association will continue to produce outstanding achievements in knowledge creation, teaching and the development of global business leaders.”

ISB Dean M. Rammohan Rao stated, “ISB has benefited a great deal from its association with Wharton especially in designing our curriculum and in getting the active support of leading faculty members. I look forward to their continued participation and guidance and hope that together we will be able to develop a substantial body of research materials pertaining to Asian businesses.”

From its inception, ISB has been designed to be an international institution with a global focus that would develop future leaders of Asia, with a curriculum that emphasizes management in transitional and rapidly evolving economies. Close to 50 business leaders, including CEOs of global enterprises, Asian companies, and the founders of Indian businesses formed the initial governing board that guided and shaped the evolution of the school. Also on that board were the deans of Wharton and Kellogg. More recently, ISB became one of the founding sponsors and an academic sponsor of Wharton’s India Knowledge@Wharton, which was launched last fall.

As part of this renewed relationship, Wharton faculty will continue to have opportunities to teach in the post graduate ISB program and executive education courses; contribute to the curriculum development, assist ISB in the development of course reading and case materials to be used in the post graduate curriculum; and help initiate a faculty development program for ISB faculty. ISB will endeavor to serve as an active platform for supporting increased exposure in Asian business issues for Wharton; assist Wharton in the development of course materials relevant to the region; and sponsor collaborative research between ISB faculty and Wharton.

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania -- founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school -- is recognized globally for intellectual leadership and ongoing innovation across every major discipline of business education. The most comprehensive source of business knowledge in the world, Wharton bridges research and practice through its broad engagement with the global business community. The school has more than 4,600 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students; more than 8,000 annual participants in executive education programs; and an alumni network of more than 81,000 graduates.