Broad School's Executive MBA celebrates
40th anniversary

Executive MBA alumni Glenda and Daryl Minor (MBA '95 and '97, respectively); to read their story, click here

The 52 new MBAs who just graduated from Michigan State University's Executive MBA program offered in Troy, Mich., at the Eli Broad Graduate School of Management, have a lot to celebrate. They have achieved an important milestone in their professional careers, having earned an internationally ranked MBA while they maintained challenging middle- and upper-management positions in their companies. More than that, they are now an integral part of the 40th -anniversary celebration of the world's second-oldest Executive MBA Program.

"The industry leaders who created the original Advanced Management Program (renamed the Executive MBA program) probably couldn't have anticipated the changes that have occurred in the business environment over the last four decades," says Robert B. Duncan, the Eli and Edythe L. Broad Dean. "But they knew their mid-level managers weren't ready to lead their organizations into an increasingly complex world," he says. "That's why they turned to the Michigan State faculty to help them develop the knowledge and skills to not just survive the changes ahead, but to capitalize on them."

Originally sponsored by the Big Three auto companies - Ford, General Motors, and DaimlerChrysler - the Broad School Executive MBA program has grown into a well-rounded, executive education program appropriate for leaders from all industries and backgrounds. Among its 2,500 graduates are some of Michigan's most prominent business leaders, including the late Ford Motor Company Chairman and CEO Alexander Trotman ('72), retired Lear Corporation Chairman and CEO Kenneth Way ('71), Original Equipment Suppliers Association (OESA) President Neil DeKoker ('77), and retired General Motors Chairman and CEO Robert Stempel ('70).

Some of the recent grads include Douglas DelGrosso ('91), president and COO, Lear Corporation; James Holden ('90), former president and CEO of DaimlerChrysler; Yousif Ghafari ('92), chairman, Ghafari Companies; Glenda Minor ('95), vice president and Controller, Europe and South America, Visteon; Ralph Gilles ('02), director, Product Design, DaimlerChrysler; Beverly Stovall ('03), marketing director, regional sales, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan; and Dana Wothe ('04), COO, Butzel Long, PC. In fact, the 2005 graduates represent 26 different Metro Detroit organizations.

The Broad School's Executive MBA alumni from all 40 classes will come together to celebrate at a golf outing and a black-tie dinner event in early June. True to their leadership perspective, they will use the occasion to encourage a new generation of executives in their community. As part of the festivities, the alumni will award a fully funded Executive MBA scholarship to a selected leader from the Detroit Public School system. Click here for more on the scholarship.

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