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8 BizEd MAY | JUNE 2015 letters STEM ADDENDUM We were thrilled to see the March/April issue of BizEd and the articles on STEM- MBA education. This exact subject has been the focus of The University of Alabama's Culverhouse College of Com- merce and the College of Engineering since 2011 when we launched our STEM Path to the MBA program. Students can earn their undergraduate degrees in STEM disciplines and earn their MBAs with one additional year of study. This path not only prepares students to enter the science, technology, engineering, and math fields, but it also provides them with the business acumen to lead companies in such fields. More than 750 students have enrolled in the program, and the first group will graduate with MBAs in 2016. In our program, students start together as freshmen and stay together for all five years. They are divided into teams and are challenged every five weeks to develop a business idea and presentation for the larger cohort that details a new product, service, or business based on as- signed themes. Many of the teams have participated in national events such as the Avon Breast Cancer Challenge and the Neuro Challenge, both with the National Institutes of Health, and the EcoCar3 Challenge with General Motors. They also have partici- pated in global entrepreneurship events like StartUp Weekend. Our corporate part- ners often tell us that students with tech and science backgrounds are great, but these students also need to have communication and business skills. For example, engineers need to understand the busi- ness impact of what they do. That's something we emphasize—for instance, one of our stu- dents received a provisional patent on an invention she created as a freshman. STEM programs in business schools will produce such students whose skills are in demand across the globe. The ultimate outcome for any students who combine STEM disciplines with a business education is that they will be able to develop business solutions for real-world problems. J. Michael Hardin, Dean Culverhouse College of Commerce The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa CORRECTION On page 68 of the March/April issue, Rowena Ortiz-Walters and Kathleen Si- mione of Quinnipiac University's School of Business were incorrectly identified. They were named as co-directors of the school's Center for Women and Busi- ness, but in July Ortiz-Walters will take a new post as dean at SUNY Plattsburgh. FactSet's solution for universities and colleges gives you the same tools trusted by investment professionals worldwide. With FactSet, you can monitor global markets, perform public and private company analysis, and understand performance of equity, all in one place. There's no better complement to a business school finance education. Transform Financial Theory into Practical Analysis LEARN MORE AT FactSet.com/bized AACSB INTERNATIONAL MARCH | APRIL 2015 PLOTTING A COURSE WHY B-SCHOOLS MUST JOIN THE STEM DISCUSSION P. 28 A LEADER'S LEGACY AACSB'S RETIRING CEO REFLECTS ON HIS TENURE P. 50 CLOSING THE GENDER GAP THE LATEST DATA ON WOMEN IN BUSINESS EDUCATION P. 38 STEM FIELDS FLOURISH BUSINESS SCHOOLS CROSS-POLLINATE THE BEST IDEAS ACROSS DISCIPLINES TO HELP INNOVATION BLOSSOM P. 21 Rowena Ortiz-Walters Kathleen Simione