Dean Ira Weiss Announces Plans to Establish Center of Excellence in Sustainability
“A gift of this nature has two major effects on the college,” Weiss said.
“The first is in terms of reputation and recognition. This gift moves us into an elite status of a small number of business schools named at this level. It also provides a branding identity that differentiates us from our peer institutions and it sends a signal to the marketplace that we are a force to be reckoned with. Most importantly, it validates the mission and value of the college.”
Weiss also outlined what the Pooles’ investment will enable the college to do, including:
- strengthening core academic areas with faculty leadership and endowed chairs … and assisting in retaining key faculty
- creating competitive packages for attracting new, young faculty, and
- providing competitive seed funding to assist faculty members in their efforts to secure external funds for research.
“This gift also will allow us to advance the college into a new era by adding a new, strong emphasis on sustainability,” Weiss said.
“In doing so, we will be expanding and complementing our research and programmatic focus areas that emphasize, technology, innovation, entrepreneurship and globalization.
As a business college, we understand that sustainability is a critical business imperative that yields a significant return on investment. It impacts our society, our economy, and, most importantly, the environment. And, it impacts the corporate bottom line.
NC State has long been known for its work in sustainability. It’s time to build the business case for sustainability and its return on investment,” he said.
“We need to educate future leaders to view sustainability and environmental impact as a complement to innovation and entrepreneurship … and to show that it is not only socially responsible but also that it makes good business sense – and that it must become a core value.
“Technology will play a huge role in sustainability innovation, and we here at NC State and in Research Triangle Park are in a great place to adopt sustainability and environmental impact as an ethical component of building future businesses,” he said.
“To that end, I am pleased to announce that we are going to create a Center of Excellence in Sustainability within the Poole College of Management. Together with our corporate partners, our international partners – especially SKEMA – and the faculty of the college, we plan to set an academic, research and outreach agenda that will put the Poole College of Management in the forefront of business leadership in the area of sustainability.
This new focus reflects Poole’s personal and professional commitment to sustainability, ethics and social responsibility, Weiss said.
“Through our Center of Excellence – and through the college as a whole – we are going to pay testimony to Lonnie’s legacy by making a significant contribution to the body of knowledge and best practices of sustainability by providing real answers to today’s real problems and preparing our students to bring the core values of sustainability, the environment, and ethical business practices to the global business challenges of the 21st century.”
Weiss also acknowledged the college’s founding dean, Dr. Dick Lewis, and its second dean, Dr. Jon Bartley, who presented remarks on behalf of the faculty. Weiss had succeeded Bartley as dean in 2004.
“Together with our dedicated faculty, they helped to build the solid foundation that has sustained the growth and direction of the college of management and helped to bring us to this exciting day.”
