The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) recognized the Weatherhead School of Management as one of the top 25 schools of its type worldwide for its commitment to positive and constructive change in business education.
Innovations That Inspire, the AACSB’s annual challenge with different themes each year, honored institutions in 2020 for efforts to emphasize the education of and elevation of entrepreneurial thinking and new business creation. Now in its fifth year, the Innovations That Inspire challenge has highlighted more than 120 business school efforts that exemplify forward-looking approaches to education, research, community engagement or outreach, and leadership.
In particular, the AACSB named the Weatherhead School a “Catalyst for Innovation,” citing the undergraduate seminar “Forming Global Cohorts to Support Reconstruction.” Michael Goldberg, associate professor of design and innovation and executive director of the Veale Institute for Entrepreneurship, organizes and teaches the seminar.
By virtually bringing cohorts of students from developing countries together with university students, the semester-long seminar seeks to support entrepreneurial efforts after large-scale crises, such as civil wars and political upheavals. In 2018, Goldberg recruited a cohort of more than 40 Syrian entrepreneurs to take the course alongside Case Western Reserve students. In 2019, students from Venezuela joined the seminar.
“We are so proud of the creativity and unity that sparks in our classes when students come together—from different parts of the globe, and bring a diversity of talents and experiences—toward a common goal,” Goldberg said. “If, in a small way, we can help startups start thriving after a crisis, this becomes a sign of hope and source of optimism for places and people trying to rebuild.”
Learn more about the Innovations That Inspire challenge on the AACSB website.