San Francisco, CA – After successfully introducing an MBA program in Sustainable Management last year, Presidio World College, an affiliate of Alliant International University, has announced student enrollment will more than double in its second year from one cohort of 22 students to three cohorts of approximately 55 students. This cutting-edge, two-year MBA program integrates social and environmental values into the core business courses to drive bottom-line growth. In addition, the College has named business educator and marketing executive F. Byron (Ron) Nahser as Provost of the College and hired other new faculty.
“We’re excited that our program is attracting so many bright, talented students,” says Dr. Nahser. “We see there is a real demand for a new generation of sustainable business leaders as evidenced in our second-year enrollment numbers and the positive response from the business community. After one year, we’re now preparing to fill two new classes.”
At Presidio World College, Dr. Nahser will work closely with key faculty members including L. Hunter Lovins, co-author of Natural Capitalism and renowned sustainability expert. The author of Learning to Read the Signs: Reclaiming Pragmatism in Business, he will also teach Managerial Marketing to second year MBA students.
Currently, many of these second year students are enrolled in the Summer Internship course designed to begin the practical application of sustainable management in business. Presidio World College student Taja di Leonardi, a summer intern at Palo Alto, CA-based Hewlett-Packard is currently assessing suppliers’ social and environmental performance and making recommendations based on HP’s Supplier Code of Conduct.
“Many of my MBA courses at Presidio World College have prepared me for my internship,” says di Leonardi who is working in HP’s Social and Environmental Global Supply Chain department. “Through learning such skills as strategic analysis, quantitative reasoning and executive-report writing, I have confidence recommending and presenting strategies to management and colleagues.”
Throughout the two-year program, students learn how to integrate ethical, social and environmental values with decision-making skills in business. Students learn basic business skills such as managerial accounting, finance and operations, with special attention paid to companies who are implementing sustainability initiatives.
“As a business educator and practitioner,” says Provost Nahser, “it’s an exciting opportunity to be at the forefront of this new sustainable business education movement. Virtually every leading organization and business school around the world recognizes the importance of CSR (corporate social responsibility), the ‘triple bottom line,’ and societal marketing. Therefore, we have the unique opportunity to help every one of our graduates become management leaders who know how to successfully bring these vital sustainability principles into every business and organizational arena.”
For more information on Presidio World College’s MBA program in Sustainable Management, please visit www.presidioworldcollege.org or call (415) 561-6590.
