Dean travels to Asia to expand global business leadership

Traveling abroad may sound exotic, but this one-week, December trip was all work, no play. Despite spending nearly 50 hours at airports and inside airplanes, the experience in Asia was exhilarating.

Beijing, China

We began in Beijing visiting some of the largest banks in China—including Bank of China, China Minsheng Bank, Industrial Commercial Bank of China, and Agricultural Bank of China. Leveraging contacts from the University of Washington Foster School Advisory Board, these meetings led to renewed support of Executive Education programs for global leadership development.

Taipei, Taiwan, ROC

In Taipei, Dean Jim Jiambalvo gave a keynote presentation titled “Five Keys to Sustained Innovation” to 250 business and government leaders of Taiwan as well as alumni of the joint program between Foster’s Executive Education and National Chengchi University. We also met with one of our distinguished alumni, Mr. Leslie Koo (BA 1977), chairman and CEO of Taiwan Cement. Mr. Koo continues to stay engaged with the Foster School and recently accepted an invitation to join Foster’s advisory board and donated to the School with a naming gift for a new computer lab in Paccar Hall (opening fall 2010).

Photo: Foster School Dean Jiambalvo and Associate Dean Dan Turner

Seoul, South Korea

In Seoul, the Foster School has strong ties with businesses, government, and universities, in part, because of the active involvement of our long-standing University of Washington Alumni Association. Of the 600 UW alumni in Korea, 130 are Foster School of Business alumni. We have continued to stay connected with the Korean business community and these relationships have led to children of UW alumni becoming Foster alumni, financial support to both the UW and Foster School, research connections for Foster faculty, and new partnerships in Executive Education.

Photo: Korean alumni and government leaders with Dean Jiambalvo (second from left) and Jean Choy (far right)

The Foster School is committed to expanding our global ties, especially in Asia. Key leaders of Foster travel on a regular basis to cultivate existing and new business partnerships. Over the years, these efforts have resulted in significant financial investments in education to support Foster students and faculty, as well as connections with influential leaders around the globe.

By Jean Choy, assistant dean of executive education and international initiatives at UW Foster School of Business