Developing Diversity: Hamada created a task force whose members were charged with making the GSB more attractive to a more diverse group of students. Issues addressed by the task force included ensuring financial support on par with peer schools and sensitivity to the needs of minority students. Here, admitted and current students socialize during a reception sponsored by the Office of Diversity Affairs.

Instituting the Diversity Program

By Mark Zmijewski
Deputy Dean for Full-Time M.B.A. Programs and Leon Carroll Marshall Professor of Accounting

I could tell that the lack of diversity within the GSB’s M.B.A. program in the mid-1990s was very troubling for Bob, especially because the GSB had been a leader in diversity in the 1960s. This was an issue Bob felt very strongly about, and he was committed to fixing it. Bob approached this problem in the same way he has approached most other challenges he faced during his tenure as dean. He collected data, sought feedback from a wide variety of people, set goals, and developed a strategy to achieve success. Those of us who have worked closely with Bob through the years were not surprised that at the end of the project the GSB surpassed the goals he had set for diversity.

Bob created the Task Force on Diversity using business executives who are members of the GSB’s advisory council. He assigned four tasks to the group: ensure that the GSB is doing everything it can to identify and recruit the best minority candidates for the M.B.A. program; ensure that the GSB is offering financial assistance to minority candidates on par with our peer schools; ensure that the GSB is sensitive to the special needs of minority students; and ensure that the GSB is creating the best career placement opportunities for minority students.

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