News@MITSloan
Volume XV111 Issue 4
September 22, 2008
http://mitsloan.mit.edu/newsatmitsloan/
Schoolwide News
A Discourse with the Dean
By Amy MacMillan
As David Schmittlein approaches his one-year anniversary as the John C Head III Dean of Management Education, we checked
in and discussed the state of the School, his priorities as Dean, as well as future plans, baseball, and family pets. Schmittlein,
a Massachusetts native who was previously Deputy Dean and a faculty member at The Wharton School at the University of
Pennsylvania, became MIT Sloan’s Dean in October of 2007.
How do you think your first year as Dean has been?
It’s been a year of sensing opportunities for this school, and continuing to build on the incredible strengths that the School has
developed over an extended period of time. I said when I joined as Dean that I didn’t wish to turn MIT Sloan into any other place,
but wished to bring fresh eyes to the opportunities that this great school already has, and I think and hope this has been a year
where we’ve taken the opportunity to do some fresh visioning and to begin to pursue some of the goals that came out of that.
What are the School’s strengths?
You know, a lot of people start an answer to that question with “really, really smart students, incredibly effective and dedicated
staff, and creative and knowledgeable faculty.” But, that’s not where I actually start the answer. I think that we are much more
than that and we are much more distinct than that as a School. We are a place where ideas need not only to be ones that we’ll still
be proud of 10 years from now, but also
where the ideas that we create are valuable
now, make a real difference in the world,
and particularly make a difference to the
effectiveness of organizations.
That commitment to ideas, that are valuable
now, but will stand the test of time, is a real
distinction for this school. Another thing
that is very distinct about this school is its
commitment to learning by doing. That’s of
course an intrinsic element of what MIT is
all about.
A third point of distinction for this school is
that we’ve been willing to construct hightouch, high-value educational programs
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Dean David Schmittlein is ready to start his second year here at MIT Sloan.
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Table of Contents
1 A Discourse with the Dean
5 Graduate Women Students
Reception
7 Grad Student Teaching Certificates
7 Systems Thinking Conference
8 Movies: Get Smart
We welcome story ideas,
photos, suggestions, and
comments from students,
faculty, and staff.
Please send items to: Sarah
Foote, Editor,
news@sloan.mit.edu.
Deadline: 12 p.m. Thursday
for publication the following
week.
distinct to the needs of different
learners. I’m proud of the fact that we
offer different kinds of undergraduate
management education for a relatively
small fraction of MIT undergrads, but
nonetheless, I believe, an education that
has the potential to benefit that small
fraction of undergrads very substantially.
We do great MBA education, and the
MBA education is very visible. Within
the four corners of MBA education, we
offer a more customized experience, or
customizable experience, than our key
competitors do. That’s reflected in hightouch mentoring, the relatively small size
of the program, and also the one-semester
Core that allows people to pursue the
distinct kinds of learning goals and career
goals that they rightly have, earlier than
they are able to do, and more deeply
than they are able to do, at other leading
schools’ MBA programs. We also run
specialized masters programs, for different
points in people’s career paths. Sloan
Fellows is a great example of that.
A fourth distinction, that is quite
fundamental for this school, is its
integration with the university within
which it lives. We are different from
other schools in that regard. Most other
leading schools of management wall off
their teaching programs and their research
programs from the rest of the university.
We simply don’t do that.
What are some aspects that have
surprised you about MIT Sloan?
The biggest surprise has been how friendly
the MIT community is. Certainly, there are
people here who might think of me as their
boss, or their boss’s boss, or something
like that, so it may be a little suspicious
that people are as friendly as they are!
Another surprise, in a way, has been the
shortage of surprises! Usually, if you enter
a new organization, especially with a
leadership role, there is a sense that when
you look under the hood, there will surely
be additional challenges of unknown
magnitude that will consume a great deal
of time. Certainly, this is a school with
challenges. But the challenges look very
much the same for us now, as they did, 9
or 10 months ago. In a way, that’s a bit of
a luxury.
What are you doing to bring the
community together here?
When people ask about the job of Dean,
I really think there are two fundamental
jobs. One is to empower and provide
a very high level direction for change.
And two, especially in a school of
management, with such intrinsically
diverse communities, is to help those
communities see themselves as being
one and being worthy of great respect
and great support by each of the other
members of that community.
As I go out and talk with alumni, and
listen to alumni, I have a distinct goal
relative to that second job requirement,
in both the speaking and the listening.
When I talk with alumni, one of the things
that I talk to them about is the risks that
our students face, the bravery that they
experience in plighting their troth with us,
and deciding to make a very substantial
investment with us. In the same way, too
many alumni don’t realize the loyalty of
the faculty to this school, and the ways
that they don’t just go the extra mile, but
they invent the extra mile to support the
school and to change and improve the
school. One of my jobs again is to make
sure that our alumni, and of course our
students, are aware of the commitment of
faculty in that way.
And then to turn around those alumni
stories and bring them back into our
communities right here on campus, is part
of the listening. So that they see, one, the
strength of our alumni community; and
two, the ways in which that community’s
loyalty is costly to those alumni. People
have been willing, especially during a time
of some economic challenge, to continue
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and expand their support for this School
during times when they face substantial
uncertainties as individuals, or in some cases,
reversals with respect to their own family’s
situation. And, it is really important that
our staff, and our faculty, and our students,
and the broader Institute community see the
sacrifices that those individuals are making to
remain a very active part of this community.
My talking about those communities to each
other is not the only way that one can bring
them together, but it is one of the important
ways that a dean needs to do that. We are
also bringing together some of the leaders of
our alumni community within their various
regions of the world through a new regional
executive board structure for engagement
with the school. That is new. It’s important
for us.
Another of the things that we are doing
to bring our communities together is to
run, in June of 2009, the first MIT Sloan
International Management Summit in Hong
Kong. It will be a great way for our students
and faculty, and alumni and friends to come
together with each other and with additional
thoughtful business leaders and government
leaders to look at business opportunity and
economic development in Asia and beyond.
You installed a community cappuccino
machine in the Deans’ Office. Was that an
effort to bring MIT Sloan together?
Yes. It’s not the biggest of things, and
certainly some of it is symbolic. We are a
community that functions better when we
know each other. As we have grown a bit –
we are still not the largest of business schools
– but as we have grown, we are always
challenged to make those connections.
Sustainability is a major theme at MIT and
here at the Sloan School of Management.
What are you doing to be “greener” in
your own life?
There are a few things we do as a family.
Some of them are new, and some maybe
not so new. Actually, sustainable food
consumption is something that’s been a point
of interest to my wife and me for a long time.
We have been – largely –
vegetarians for a long time.
Separately, this is a very
green-oriented Deans’ office.
The deputy deans are very
focused on environmental
issues, and that’s true
throughout MIT Sloan to a
much greater degree than
you see elsewhere, and that’s
great.
Can you tell me about the
new Master of Finance
degree that will debut next
year?
The degree has been in design here for an
extended period of time. It’s a reflection
of a couple of fundamental truths about
this school: our commitment not to be a
one-size-fits-all source of management
education. People need different things from
management education at different points in
their lives. The M.Fin. is not an MBA degree,
and it shouldn’t be seen as a reasonable
substitute for an MBA, nor vice versa. It
is the right program for a certain group of
people at the right point in their lives, just as
our undergraduate programs and MIT Sloan
Fellows programs are. The launch of the
Master of Finance gives us an opportunity to
strengthen the faculty in finance, including
hiring more faculty at the junior and senior
levels, and gives us an opportunity to tell
the world about the current greatness of our
finance group and the legacy that a history of
strength leaves us.
Dean Schmittlein welcomes members
of the MBA Class of 2010 at the
AdMIT weekend last February.
(Photo by Jeremy Gilbert, MBA ’08)
What can we expect to see in the coming
year?
There will be more innovation in types of
programs to offer. If we are successful, we
will significantly enhance our international
partnerships with leading academic
institutions around the world, which will
increase our visibility, and will increase our
ability to attract the world’s most thoughtful
business leaders of the present and the future
to MIT Sloan. It is a safe prediction that the
share of the global economy represented by
the United States is going to drop materially
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over the next 10 years. Our ability to continue
to attract the world’s most thoughtful future
business leaders to MIT and to Cambridge
can never be taken as a foregone conclusion.
We need to experiment with new, very high
quality ways that we can provide value to
the world. Within our MBA program, we
continue to provide more ways for people to
customize their education with an element
of high touch. There is a proposal for a track
in finance that will have those elements of
practice and high touch community building
to it. Again, within the MBA program, we’ve
created the Dean’s MBA Student Advisory
Council for the first time to bring together
12 MBA students with leaders of the MBA
program, staff leadership of the school from
other areas and myself, to look at the school’s
opportunities, not only within the MBA
program, but also more broadly, on a yearto-year project basis where we engage with
leaders in our MBA community, to create
great innovations.
You were just in China for the Opening
Ceremony of the Olympic Games. How
was that?
I was in China for two days to participate in
the Advisory Board Meeting for the School
of Economics and Management of Tsinghua
University, with whom we’ve had a long
and richly-textured partnership. I did go to
the Opening Ceremony, but did not go to
any events. I had never been to an Opening
Ceremony before, and this one seems like a
good one to have gone to! Next time, we’ll
focus on the athletics.
Speaking of sports, have you always been a
Red Sox fan?
Since about the age of four. I grew up in
Western Massachusetts in an extended family
that was focused on the Red Sox from April
to October.
Can you name all of the left fielders since
Ted Williams?
I’m sure I can’t, actually! The Red Sox went
through some years that we might describe as
relatively fallow times! Certainly, I can name
Carl Yastrzemski and Jim Rice.
Is it true that you live right down the street
from Jason Varitek?
I do. His family comes from Georgia and
stays [in Newton] during the season.
Have you ever seen him in your
neighborhood?
Yes, from a distance. My kids will go out and
throw a ball and play catch, and they tend to
do that around Mr. Varitek’s end of the street
– just in case he might look out the window
and see them.
You are a marketing professor with a keen
understanding of the importance of names.
How did you choose your children’s
names?
Their names are associated with “strength.” It
would be fair to say that with a last name like
mine, the children have enough of a burden to
bear! Gabriel is our son’s name, and Brigitte
is our daughter.
How are they adjusting to Boston?
I would say they are adjusting. Our son has
also been a Red Sox fan since he was about
four, so that’s a good thing. Age 10 is not the
most difficult age to move your children, but
on the other hand, in all honestly, was either
one of them putting their hands up for a move
to Boston? Not so much.
What’s the last book you read for
pleasure?
“A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering
Genius,” by Dave Eggers. In spite of the
tongue-in-cheek way the title was used, it’s
not such an unfair title.
Do you ever Google yourself?
Sure. Happily, I have a name that’s distinct
enough that if I do Google myself, it’s mostly
me.
There’s a photo of a dog on your blog
site [HoneyFox Coogi, 1995-2008]. What
happened to him?
He lived for 13 years, and he died in August.
He was a Pembroke Welsh Corgi. He became
ill in March, about two months after the kids
had moved here, so that was a difficult time
for the family. There’s a great vet care center
in Waltham that was able to successfully treat
his cancer for four-to-five months. They gave
him some remaining good days, and it gave
the family an opportunity to grieve. We then
got another Corgi, and she’s 6-months-old
now.
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What’s her name?
I had no responsibility for her name, which is “Tinkerbell.” My kids came up with that!
What’s your favorite Super Bowl ad?
The ad that comes to mind is the Apple 1984 ad, which I think, not only got talked about, but
helped establish a certain kind of image for Apple. In fairness, most of these ads aren’t really
designed to change preferences…they are run as an entertainment sweepstakes.
If you were stranded on a desert island, which musical albums would you want with you?
Elvis Costello’s Armed Forces; Van Morrison’s His Band and the Street Choir; Clannad’s In
Concert; and two classical music pieces – that are often put together – by composer Ralph
Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending and The Wasps.
When you were an undergraduate at Brown University, I understand you developed an
affinity for Portuguese sweet bread. Where’s the best place in Boston to get this bread?
Readers, help! I’ve never tried it anyplace here. If your readers have suggestions, that would
be excellent! I still have a lot of places to bring my family in Boston.
Quote of the Week
“When something can be read without effort, great effort has gone
into its writing” —Enrique Jardiel Poncela
Graduate Women Students Reception - an Invitation from
Dean Blanche Staton:
A reception will be held in your honor on Thursday, September 25, at 4:30 p.m. in the Brown
Living Room of McCormick Residence Hall. My colleagues and associates (other women
administrators and faculty) will join me in welcoming you to the Institute. As you begin your
journey at MIT, we want you to know some of the people and the resources that are here for
you, and it’s equally as important that you have a chance to connect and build relationships
with one another.
I look forward to meeting you. Blanche E. Staton, bestaton@mit.edu.
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MIT Sloan Ranked First in…
MIT Sloan ranked #1 as having the most stellar scholars in the field of Production
and Operations Management, according to new research by Bin Jiang (DePaul
University) published by the Journal of Operations Management (http://www.
journaloperationsmanagement.org). The rankings from the study consider MIT Sloan to be
the leading center of knowledge creation and dissemination in Production and Operations
Management among American business schools. Nine of our colleagues in Operations
Management, Operations Research, System Dynamics, and Marketing were recognized.
The original article, How to Do Research: Advice from Stellar Scholars in the POM Field, is
Essay 5 available at http://nebula.bus.msu.edu/jom/osm.asp.
Grad Student Teaching Certificates Available
The Teaching and Learning Lab will begin offering a Graduate Student Teaching Certificate
Program. This workshop series is for students interested in developing their teaching skills to
support their teaching at MIT, as well as those who are planning careers in academe. To earn
a certificate, students will participate in seven workshops, as well as a class videotaping, and
individual teaching consultation session.
The program kicks off on Thursday, October 16, with the first workshop: Developing a
Teaching Philosophy Statement, from 12:00 - 1:30 p.m., in 5-231.
MIT’s well-traversed Infinite
Corridor. (Photo by Jeremy Gilbert,
MBA ’08)
Other workshops include:
Constructing a Syllabus…January 22
Constructing Effective Problem Sets and Exam Questions…January 27
The ACT of Teaching…January 28
Interactive Teaching and Active Learning…January 29
Teaching in a Multicultural Classroom…January 30
Writing a Reflective Teaching Memo…April 2
For more details and to register for the Graduate Student Teaching Certificate Program, visit:
http://web.mit.edu/tll/programs-services/ta_certificate/certificate.html.
If you have any questions, please contact Leann Dobranski, Assistant Director, Teaching and
Learning Laboratory, 617-253-3371 or e-mail leann@mit.edu.
MIT Conference On Systems Thinking To Be Held
Global industry leaders and MIT faculty will speak on the importance of using a systems
approach to solving complex problems, such as sustainability and the environment, product
design, and technology strategy, at MIT’s Systems Thinking Conference. The event, sponsored
by the System Design and Management (SDM) program, will be held October 23-24, on the
MIT campus.
Senior executives will offer insights into best practices for applying systems thinking at
their companies, which include Microsoft, IDEO, Herman Miller, Agilent, eClinicalWorks,
Capgemini, and HubSpot. MIT experts Yossi Sheffi, Peter Senge, Nancy Leveson, Olivier
de Weck, Annalisa Weigel, and Patrick Hale will provide information on the emerging field
of engineering systems and how to apply several new methodologies to address complex
challenges.
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According to Hale, Director of the SDM program, systems thinking has been around for
decades, slowly gaining acceptance and momentum in organizations around the world. “Only
recently has it reached a tipping point, and we only need to watch the six o’clock news to see
why—there very few simple, single discipline problems anymore,” said Hale, who is also
President of the International Council on Systems Engineering.
“Put simply, systems thinking and the logic and methodologies emerging from its application
are imperative for technical professionals in industry, academia, and government to understand
and implement,” said Hale. “This conference will describe why and how systems thinking,
systems engineering, and engineering systems methodologies are being transformed to
produce scalable approaches for creating technologically appropriate solutions to the
challenges that keep us awake at night.”
This conference is open to all. Registration information is at http://sdm.mit.edu/conf08. Preregistration is requested by October 9.
SDM Program Director Pat
Hale (Photo by L. Barry
Hetherington)
SES
CORNER
SIP Workshop Bidding
Fall 2008 SIP: October 20 - 24
Round I- MBA Students Only
Opens- 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, September 23
Closes- 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 30
SIP Bidding, Schedule, Abstracts, and Bid Training Presentation: https://sloanbid.mit.edu
Round II- All Sloan Graduate Students
Opens 9:00 a.m. on Friday, October 3
Closes 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 10
Add/Drop Round opens 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, October 15 and closes 9:00 a.m. on the
following days:
Friday, October 17 for Monday, October 20 workshops
Monday, October 20 for Tuesday, October 21 workshops
Tuesday, October 21 for Wednesday, October 22 workshops
Wednesday, October 22 for Thursday, October 23 workshops
Thursday, October 23 for Friday, October 24 workshops
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CAMPUS
CORNER
The MIT Entrepreneurs Club
New Science and Technology Startup Case Presenters Every Week
Regular, weekly, Tuesday-open meeting of the MIT Entrepreneurs Club (aka the E-Club)
where all members of the MIT, Harvard, and Wellesley communities are welcome to present
new science and technology startup ideas (unless we’re hosting a special event, panel, or guest
presenter that week). Special events and projects announced in advance by E-club officers and
directors.
This event takes place Tuesday, September 23, from 6:00–7:00 p.m., in 56-114, and is free.
This event occurs every Tuesday through June 1, 2009.
For more information call 207-230-0465, e-mail the club at e-club-admin@mit.edu, or visit
http://web.mit.edu/e-club. This event is sponsored by the Entrepreneurs Club.
MOVIES
NOW PLAY ING ON CAMPUS...
Get Smart (2008)
The 40-Year-Old Virgin star Steve Carell steps into the telephonic shoes of television’s most
beloved bumbling detective in this big-screen adaptation of the hit 1960s-era comedy series
created by Mel Brooks. The evil geniuses at KAOS have hatched a diabolical plot to dominate
every living man, woman, and child on the planet, and their plot gets under way as they
attack the headquarters of the United States spy agency Control. As a result of the attack, the
identity of every agent working for Control has been compromised. Realizing that the only
way to thwart KAOS’ evil plan is to promote eager but inexperienced Control analyst Maxwell
Smart (Carell) to the rank of special agent, the Chief (Alan Arkin) reluctantly teams Smart
with Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway)—a veteran super-spy whose beauty is only surpassed by
her lethality. With no real field experience to speak of and nothing but sheer enthusiasm and
a handful of fancy spy gadgets to help him accomplish his deadly mission, Maxwell Smart
his new partner, Agent 99, will be forced to face malevolent KAOS head Siegfried (Terence
Stamp) and his loyal army of minions in a decisive fight that will determine the fate of the free
world. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, David Koechner, Terry Crews, and Ken Davitian co-star.
(Courtesy of Google Images)
Showing on September 27, at 7:00 and 10:00 p.m. in 26-100 and again on September 28, at
10:00 p.m. in 26-100.
From the Lecture Series Committee website. All movies are just $4.
AROUND
TOWN
Things to do in Boston
& Cambridge
Tenth Annual Roxbury Open Studios
The 10th Annual Roxbury Open Studios will take place October 4-5 with “ART ROX” as
the theme. Roxbury artists will showcase in group shows, studios, and galleries in Roxbury.
Saturday, October 4, 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. at Roxbury Center for the Arts at Hibernian Hall,
Roxbury.
For more information visit http://www.roxburyopenstudios.org/.
Printed on 100# Text Mohawk Navajo White, which contains
20% Postconsumer waste fiber and is manufactured with windpower.
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