Message from the Dean

David M. Saunders, PhD
Dean, Queen's School of Business

It would be hard to miss the story of the economic crisis in today’s headlines. That the economy is in crisis is unquestionable. However, how we got to this troubling place — and more importantly where we go from here — are issues that beg many questions, and we’re facing no shortage of them at Queen’s School of Business.  I’ll address some of them now.

Are we changing our curriculum as a result of the economic crisis?  Whether the economy is booming or busting, our first priority is to teach tomorrow’s business leaders the fundamentals of business -- including risk management, ethics and judgement -- and help them develop a global perspective. These are the core skills our graduates need. That said, our faculty are well-connected to the business world outside of the classroom, and are actively applying the models, cases and theories they teach to what’s happening from Main Street to Wall Street.

How are we helping our students and grads find jobs?  We have always been committed to the career development of our students and alumni, and we have offered support in this challenging market by adding staff to our Business Career Centre to provide coaching and augment recruiter relationships. In addition to finding our current students jobs, we’re supporting alumni who are back in the job market.

What do QSB thought leaders think?  We’re fortunate to have numerous members of the QSB community who contribute insight and expertise to the current market mayhem. Our faculty are regularly quoted in the media, and alumnus Bill Bamber (MBA’94) is co-author of Bear Trap: The Fall of Bear Stearns and the Panic of 2008. Bill shared his story, as told in this riveting, first-hand account of the 85-year old firm’s demise, at presentations with Finance Professor Louis Gagnon to QSB students in Kingston and Queen’s Business Club events for alumni across Canada and in New York.

Back in Kingston, our current MBA class recently had the benefit of a guest lecture from Jerry del Missier, President of Barclay’s Capital.  Mr. del Missier took questions from students and spoke on current market conditions and the Lehman Brothers deal in which Barclay’s was involved.

Can you still raise money? The need to constantly re-invest in the human capital, innovative programming and infrastructure that make up a leading business school doesn’t take a break in tough times. While the fundraising environment has unquestionably become more challenging in recent months, we’re steadily progressing towards our fundraising goal, which includes the expansion of the business school. Watch for some exciting announcements on this front in the near future.

Finally, I’m very pleased to inform you that for the third consecutive time Queen’s ranked #1 in the world outside the U.S. in BusinessWeek’s “Best B-Schools Ranking.” It’s a tremendous accomplishment for the school on the world stage, and a credit to our outstanding students, alumni, faculty and staff.

David M. Saunders, PhD
Dean