MEDIA RESOURCES
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DATE: January 14, 2005
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Andrea Hugg
(214)768-4474
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OR
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Lindsay Hogan
(214)768-1794
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COX SCHOOL OF BUSINESS ANNOUNCES AMERICAN AIRLINES GLOBAL LEADERSHIP PROGRAM GIFT
MBA students at SMU’s Cox School of Business will soon experience global business in an innovative manner, unique among business schools, courtesy of a generous gift from American Airlines. A three-year commitment by American to fund airfare to Asia, Europe, and Latin America will enable the entire Cox first-year MBA class to travel to those regions as part of the school’s new Global Leadership Program. In recognition of this gift, the three-week program will be entitled the American Airlines Global Leadership Program. American’s gift is valued at $1.05 million.
Commenting on the gift, AMR CEO Don Carty said, "In my experience, the best way to really learn something is to experience it first hand. Talking about things is great. But when you have the chance to go somewhere and immerse yourself in new culture, that’s a really unique learning experience. So I think an educational program that sends students into new business settings to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom and observe that things are done differently around the world is immensely valuable. The ability to then come back to school and share those experiences with colleagues, while they share their unique experiences with you, is just as important."
Students will visit major cities in each of the three regions and will meet with executives, managers, workers, and government representatives. They will compare both industries and functions across regions and around the world. Among the major corporations committed to participate in this program are: JCPenney Company, Grupo Imsa, Jones Day, Embraer, MATAV, SONY, Coca-Cola, Daimler-Chrysler, Merrill Lynch, Motorola, Texas Instruments, Rede Globo, The Associates, Cathay Life, Taiwan Semiconductor, Merrill Lynch, KPMG, The Associates, KOMATSU, Telefonica, Banco do Santiago, Banco Central de Chile, SOFOFA, Grupo Vitro, FEMSA, General Electric, BASF, Goldman Sachs, British Telecom, Marks & Spencer, Comerz Bank, Des Werk, Petrobras, Natura, Codelco, CEMEX, Acer, Giant, Intel, Shanghai General Motors, CITIBANK, Bao Steel, KAO, Ito Yokado, and British Petroleum.
Cox School Dean Al Niemi said, "The American Airlines gift represents a tremendous expression of support for SMU and the Cox School. This gift will allow us to provide an extraordinary global experience for our students, enabling them to learn far more about international business than they can in the classroom."
The breadth of each of the three groups’ travels makes the American gift especially valuable. Students traveling to Asia will visit Shanghai, Beijing, Taipei, Tokyo, and Osaka. In Europe, students will travel to London, Brussels, Frankfurt, and Budapest, and in Latin America they will visit Sao Paolo, Santiago, Rio de Janeiro, and Monterrey. There is no charge to students for participation in this mandatory program.
Students will attend an intensive three-day orientation to each region’s business and cultural background just prior to their departure. Upon their return to Dallas, students will attend another three-day session, this time to present the results of their comparative study of functions and industries accumulated over two weeks’ of intensive business research. A portion of this presentation will be open to the public. It will be titled the American Airlines Symposium on Global Business. The program will begin on April 27 and end on May 18, 2000.
