Lehigh Business Magazine Fall 2023

FALL 2023 11 BUSINESS.LEHIGH.EDU LEHIGH BUSINESS RANKINGS Undergraduate • # 27 Undergraduate Business Schools (2023 Poets&Quants) FLEX MBA • Top 15 Online MBA (2023 Poets&Quants) • Top 35 Best Online MBA (2023 U.S. News & World Report) • Top 50 Best Part-Time MBA Program (2023 U.S. News & World Report) 1-MBA • #5 Salary-to-Debt Ratio (2023 U.S. News & World Report) • Top 60 Global MBA Program for U.S. Schools (2023 QS World University Rankings) MS in Financial Engineering • Top 25 Best Master’s of Financial Engineering Programs (2023 TFE Times) 1-MBA RANKS IN TOP 5 NATIONALLY U.S. News & World Report has identified Lehigh University’s 1-MBA program as ranking 5th in the United States in salary- to-debt ratio. The publication recently evaluated MBA programs by the highest return on investment by examining starting salary-to-debt ratio from its 2023-2024 Best Business Schools (MBA) ranking. “We have fervently communicated the long-term value an MBA program has over one’s career, but for many prospective MBA students, the short-term return on investment is top of mind,” says Kevin Ezzell, senior director graduate recruitment and admissions. “This is an excellent example of how a top 100 MBA program like the Lehigh Business 1-MBA sees top five outcomes when examining post-MBA starting salary to incurred debt.” Behavioral Science Lab Opens 1,000+ students per semester expected to take part. The Business Innovation Building has a new state-of-the-art research laboratory dedicated to the scientific study of human decision-making, judgment and behavior. The Behavioral Science Lab will serve faculty from every department in the College of Business. When fully operational, 1,000+ students will participate in a diverse array of research studies each semester. These investigations will span many disciplines, from applying game theory in economics to examining psychology in consumer decision-making or organizational behavior. The lab has 25 individual stations, three private rooms for focus groups and interviews and an observation room with a one-way mirror where, for instance, a mock store aisle could be constructed. The lab will serve as a dynamic hub for cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research. Becoming Comfortable in the Uncomfortable Gruhn lecture series features CMO Lorraine Barber-Miller ’96. Lorraine Barber-Miller ‘96, executive vice president and chief marketing & e-commerce officer at Philips, shared her career journey at the 2023 Donald M. Gruhn '49 Distinguished Finance Speaker Series at Zoellner Arts Center this past October. Barber-Miller was interviewed on stage by Professor Andrew Ward, management department chair, about lessons she’s learned along the way and the impact of her Lehigh Business education in marketing. Barber-Miller spent 21 years at IBM before moving to ADP. She was hired at Philips in February of 2020 to change the focus of the organization and to make it more data driven. A task made more challenging in the face of a worldwide pandemic, she says. Early in her time at IBM Barber-Miller says she volunteered to go abroad. “It taught me to be comfortable in the uncomfortable,” she remembers. “Learning to do things I’d never done before. I developed a learning agility and curiosity.” When asked about the role of AI in marketing, Barber-Miller stresses being prepared to leverage it, but says, “it will not replace our work” of creating the deeper relationships marketers strive for. She gives credit for her successes to her education. “Lehigh taught me critical thinking, resilience, perseverance, determination and hard work,” Barber-Miller says. “It also taught me multidisciplinary collaboration.” Barber-Miller urges the students in the audience to look for career paths that give them exposure to learning opportunities and to seek out organizations that will invest in their development. “Your career is a marathon, not a sprint,” she explains. “You want to have longevity and you want to be marketable.” Watch the Gruhn lecture.

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