"To be a top-class business school you must have a top-class international component," said Martin Gannon, professor of management and founding director of the Smith School's Center for Global Business, as he received the university's prestigious Landmark Award.

Brian Wallace is American, studying for an MBA at the Smith School of Business, and spending the fall semester at a business school in Germany. Norma Athamary is Peruvian, studying for an MBA at ESADE in Barcelona, now spending a semester abroad in the U.S. at Smith. Both students are profiting from the Semester Exchange Program managed by Smiths Center for Global Business in partnership with top business schools worldwide.

The campus, the professors, the technology - 40 MBA and undergraduate business students from Australia and Poland are impressed by it all. Coming from 110-degree temperatures in Australia, through heightened security (even shoe checks), 31 students from RMIT University (the former Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) and nine students from the Polish-American Center at the University of Lodz arrived in the United States in January for a two-week academic study program at the Smith School.

Business is now more global than ever, challenging us to expand our understanding of other cultures and develop deeper cultural knowledge. For Zeynep Ozenci, principal investment officer at International Finance Corporation (IFC), developing this sort of cultural consciousness is not a choice, it is needed to effectively do her job.

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Ed Novak divides much of his time between Boston and the Washington, D.C., area, but his professional reach is global. As managing director and partner at Vistra, an international business services provider, he’s in constant contact with clients and colleagues worldwide. Because much of his work involves helping growth-oriented clients expand their operations overseas, Novak says his global mindset competencies, relationship-building abilities and cultural curiosity are key skills.

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Chris Steadley, MBA ’12, has consistently used his global mindset in his eight-plus years at advisory and research services firm Gartner. His current role as a senior partner in consulting includes managing business in the Midwest region of the U.S. from a public sector, education, and nonprofit perspective. Steadley’s main responsibility is to oversee the growth of Gartner’s portfolio, which includes delivering the right solutions for clients. He enjoys leading his team to success.

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