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Spotlight Facing the Future Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management Cornell University Ithaca, New York This year the Johnson Graduate School of Management experienced two symbolic events: its 20th anniversary as the Johnson School and the passing of its namesake Samuel Johnson, the executive, alumnus, champion of sustainable development, and $25 million donor to the school. In trib- ute, Johnson's most recent $5 mil- lion gift will support school initia- tives in global sustainable business, including a new Center for Sustain- able Global Enterprise, which will study the "triple bottom line" of business—financial profitability, eco- logical integrity, and social equality. The 20-year milestone has proven to be the perfect time for the school to plan aggressively for its future. The Johnson School has created an ambitious five-year plan to continue its advance into the 21st-century marketplace. Central to the school's agenda is Above: Sage Hall, the century-old facility for the Johnson Graduate School of Management that underwent major restoration and renovation in 1996. Left: A small classroom at the Parker Center, equipped for two-way distance learning. Below: A finance class in the Johnson School's Parker Center for Investment Research. the development of several strategic research centers devoted to areas of business the school sees as gaining in importance. The school continues to enhance its Parker Center for Investment Research, which teaches investment management skills via an electronic trading room and stu- dent-managed equity fund. In the planning stages are a Center for the Business of Science and Technology, a Center for Analytics and Research in Marketing, and a Center of Entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is a prominent area of study for the Johnson 64 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2004 School, whose students can choose from 14 specialized courses in entrepreneurship. In the 15-credit Entrepre- neurship and Private Equity Immersion in the second half of the first year of the MBA, students concentrate com- pletely on the topics of new ven- tures, venture capital, leveraged buyouts, and mid-range mergers and acquisitions. Students in the BR Ventures program take part in a venture capital operation, offering promising startups between $50,000 and $250,000. Those par- ticipating in the school's BR Incubator help foster and develop the entrepreneurial efforts of stu- dents across the Cornell campus. Since 1992, business school fac- ulty have participated in Cornell's Entrepreneurship and Personal Enterprise (EPE) program, along with faculty from all of Cornell's other schools and colleges. Through EPE, all Cornell students can hone their entrepreneurial skills through a series of courses, seminars, guest lectures, clubs, networking opportu- nities, and internships. In the next few years, the school plans to grow its established cur- riculum, which includes 24- and 12- month MBA, doctoral, and cus- tomized executive education pro- important legacy to uphold, but it also must continue to renew itself, says its dean Robert Swieringa. "The keys to success in a rapidly changing, unpredictable world will have as much to do with mindset as with skills," he says. "Leaders will have to prepare organizations for innovation, pick the right places to innovate, help others to innovate, and want to see their visions become reality." The Johnson School is accredited z by AACSB International. s grams serving more than 600 stu- dents. The school specifically wants to highlight diversity. Women cur- rently comprise less than 30 percent of its MBA classes, a number the school wants to improve. To that end, it sponsors Camp $tart-Up, a program that introduces business to teenage girls. It also is working with its Office for Women and Minorities in Business to perform more out- reach to high-school and under- graduate women and minorities. The Johnson School has an