Yale SOM Welcomes Full-Time MBA Class of 2014

"The world needs a different kind of leader," Yale SOM Dean Edward A. Snyder told the members of the full-time MBA Class of 2014 as he welcomed them to campus on August 8, the first day of Orientation.

Snyder described Yale SOM's approach to business education, saying that the school is working to be the most connected to the advantages and resources of a preeminent home university and the most "distinctly global" among U.S. business schools. He also stressed SOM's commitment to educating leaders for an increasingly complex world. "We want to extend your lines of sight," he said. "We want to elevate you as leaders."

Snyder and Anjani Jain, senior associate dean, addressed the students as they embarked on an intense 10-day orientation program, which will introduce them to SOM's curriculum, culture, and career resources.

Snyder pointed out three new assets the Class of 2014 will have. The Global Network for Advanced Management, which launched in April, has greatly increased the school's global reach by connecting top MBA and faculty talent worldwide. The new Master of Advanced Management program will bring to campus about 20 students from Global Network schools, and a two-year Leadership Development Program is being introduced this year with Thomas A. Kolditz, a retired brigadier general in the U.S. Army, as director.

Anjani Jain congratulated the students for undertaking the broad and integrated approach that Yale SOM brings to business education. "You refuse to accept the facile dichotomies that are sometimes used to characterize academia," he said. "Our mission requires a nuanced understanding."

Jain also underscored the ethical responsibilities of leadership. "In your academic and extracurricular activities at SOM, you will have ample opportunity to lead by example," he said. "This is the beginning of an exciting adventure, whose course you do not yet know, which will transform you in ways you cannot predict."

Yale University President Richard C. Levin PhD '74 addressed the class the following day. He discussed Yale's history of helping to rejuvenate New Haven and encouraged students to be a part of the city. "The University has a deep involvement in the economic and cultural development of the city," Levin said. "What's still missing in New Haven is more of a culture of innovative start-up companies with Yale graduates at the helm."

Levin also emphasized SOM's and Yale's global focus. "We are in a totally interconnected world today," he said. "To be really effective as a leader in a globalized world, you need to have in your toolkit the capacity to understand people whose starting point is different than your own."

One of the incoming Yale MBA students, Guy Benjamin '14, said that he came to SOM to build on the leadership skills he has cultivated during 13 years in the Israeli Air Force. "I really like the fact that this is a smaller, more intimate school," he said.

Sonja Weich '14 said she appreciated her class's diversity and energy. "I've learned a lot about the SOM community already just from my classmates' backgrounds," Welch said. "They're all very diverse and very excited to be here."