UVM Grossman School ranks 8 on 'Better World' MBA list

Vermont Business MagazineCorporate Knightshas released the 15thedition of the Better World MBA ranking. The University of Vermont Grossman School of Business ranked 8th in the global assessment. The ranking, which has been published annually since 2002, evaluates instruction and research in sustainability from a base universe of the top 100 schools on the Financial Times Global MBA rankings, and invites all other accredited MBA programs (AMBA, AACSB, EQUIS) to opt-in. Eligible programs are assessed on the number of core courses, institutes and centres, and faculty research produced in the last three years related to sustainability, including corporate responsibility, human rights and ethics.

The UVM school of business was renamed in honor ofSteven Grossman, a 1961 graduate and a long-time supporter of the school, who donated $20 million to the school in 2015. An expansion of the business school, housed in Kalkin Hall, is under way and planned for an August 2018 completion. It is calledIfshin Hall and is named for Steve Ifshin, UVM Class of 1958 and a former member of the Grossman School of Business Board of Advisors, who died last year. The UVM Foundation announced Ifshin’s gift of $1.75 million for the project in September 2016.

The University of Exeter School of Business in the U.K. narrowly nabbed the top spot on the ranking with five dedicated courses and five institutes each related to sustainability, and 253 faculty publications related to the field in the last three years. Prior to this,Canada'sYork UniversitySchulich School of Business was the top-ranked program each year. The Schulich School of Business tied for the #2 spot this year with the Warwick School of Business in the U.K.

This year,Corporate Knightsevaluated 134 programs, nine per cent more than in 2016. Of these programs, 70.9 per cent boast dedicated courses in the subject area for their MBA students, and all together this universe of programs offered 276 institutes and centres for students related to sustainability, and has published 5,326 pieces of faculty research in the last three years related to the evolving field.

The Top 40 of the Better World MBA ranking are programs that equip their graduates to understand sustainability issues and solve business problems in an interconnected climate in which environmental and social issues directly affect businesses, and for which businesses play a key role in solving.

"Businesses are re-orienting their strategies to align with the sustainable development goals for a fairer, greener planet. The Top 40 ranked Better World MBA programs are training grounds for future business leaders who want to be part of the monumental shift," saidToby Heaps, CEO ofCorporate Knights.

This year's top ten was rounded out by Copenhagen Business School,Duquesne University, TIAS School for Business and Society,MIT Sloan School of Management, theUniversity of VermontGrossman School of BusinessandMcGill University's Desautels Faculty of Management.

Seven MBA programs dropped out of the Top 40 from last year, making way for theUniversity of Victoria'sGustavson School of Business,KAIST,Gonzaga UniversityandBrandeis University, among others. The number of Canadian programs recognized at this level remained steady at nine.

About Corporate Knights: Founded in 2002,Corporate Knightsis aToronto-based media and research company focused on clean capitalism – an economic system that incorporates social, economic and ecological factors – and reports on sustainability at the intersection of business and society.Corporate Knightsis best known for rules-based transparent rankings of corporate sustainability performance, including the Best 50 Corporate Citizens inCanadaand the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World. Learn more atwww.corporateknights.com.

2017 Better World MBA Ranking by Corporate Knights

SOURCE TORONTO,Oct. 16, 2017/CNW/ -Corporate Knights Inc.www.corporateknights.ca