Edward A. Snyder
Dean and Professor of Economics

FROM THE DEAN

We continue to work. The passion for truth continues to motivate our faculty. Our students continue to dream and set high ambitions. Our alumni continue to lead.

As our faculty pursue deep insights and teach, as our students learn and develop, and as our alumni seek yet greater responsibilities in the marketplace, the GSB and its people stand with many individuals, enterprises, and organizations to affirm the very values that terrorists tried to strike down when the U.S. was so ruthlessly attacked on September 11, 2001.

Needless to say, I could not have anticipated what would transpire in the weeks after my arrival on campus. Many among us have lost those closest to them. On behalf of the school and its people, we send to you our best hopes that you can find strength and some sense of peace.

We continue our work with, I believe, a greater capacity to support those who suffered terrible losses. We are at times off balance while carrying a deep sense of grief and yet we are convinced that we need to press forward. We appreciate the nature of the challenges ahead and we have the confidence to continue.

As we continue our work, we of course need to consider our direction. In this, my first letter to you, I do want to take this opportunity to address a narrower question: What should we aspire to accomplish this year?

I spent much of the summer studying the school and engaging our students and corporate partners in dialogue. I am spending much of my time now getting to know our great faculty and staff. I believe that we should pursue three objectives this year with as much energy as we can summon:

• Align our efforts to support our current students in their job search. Even though our reputation among recruiters is excellent, this is a challenging year for all seeking jobs. I thank all of you who helped make sure that all members of the class of 2002 seeking summer internships found one. We again ask our alumni to help our current students and fellow alumni. Offer advice and information. And by all means, if you are hiring either for full-time or summer positions, make sure to look to GSB students and alumni for the talent you need. To do so, please contact me (tsnyder@uchicago.edu), Glenn Sykes, director of M.B.A. Career Services (glenn.sykes@gsb.uchicago.edu), or Robert Wilcox, executive director of the Office to Advance Career and Corporate Alliances (bob.wilcox@gsb.uchicago.edu).
• Market the school. This is not a time to be bashful about our people or our accomplishments. The GSB sets the standards in management and management education. More than 5,500 of our alumni are the CEO or a top officer of their organization. Yet more often than not, what a person believes to be our reputation is defined by the most recent conversation the person has had with a member of the GSB community. We are all representatives of the GSB and we can be a powerful force in raising our visibility.
• Build constructive and productive relationships with units throughout the University of Chicago. The GSB is at home in a university that shares its values. We are pleased to be within its umbrella and we need to work hard to leverage fully the University of Chicagos many strengths to improve our programs.

And what about the longer term? I am not an expert at forecasting, but I see no barrier ahead. We know who we are and where we are going. We have a point of view and a point on the horizon in view. Our faculty, through their research, will continue to set the standards globally. Our alumni will continue to lead. Our students will stretch and develop and define the dreams of a new generation of business students.