Making a positive impact, together
Guest post by Annie Young-Scrivner (BA 1991), Chairman of the Board, Michael G. Foster School of Business.
The holiday season is a good time to reflect on all that has happened in the past year and set resolutions for the year to come.
I’m a proud Husky and Foster School alumna who graduated in 1991. Ever since, I’ve been giving back to the school that has given me and our community so much. For almost a decade, I’ve served on the UW Foster School Advisory Board. It’s a privilege to be surrounded by amazing entrepreneurs and industry leaders who have shaped our business school and our society.
Firoz Lalji, David Selig (representing Martin Selig (BA 1959)), Dean Jim Jiambalvo, Nancy Zevenbergen (BA 1981), Pete Shimer (BA 1984) and Annie Young-Scrivner (BA 1991) at the 2018 Business Leadership Celebration.
Given the honor to serve as board chair this year, I see first-hand the importance of our private-public partnerships to sustaining the momentum of our school. Our fabulous dean, Jim Jiambalvo, gives a lot of credit for the school’s nation-leading rise in the rankings to UW Foster’s alumni network and business partners. Let’s review a few results:
- #1 requested undergraduate major at the UW for the past seven years.
- #1 for MBA career placement among the nation’s top business schools.
- #1 public business school for research productivity in the world.
- Over 1 MILLION jobs created by Foster alumni founding businesses. (There’s a reason why our next new building will be called Founders Hall!)
Together, we already have achieved so much. But there is more work to do. As you set your New Year resolutions for 2019, I ask all alumni to take an active role in supporting the Foster School. Whether you’re volunteering valuable time, including the Foster School in your philanthropy, or building bridges to your companies and professional networks, thank you for being our partner in these transformational efforts to educate creative, conscientious and effective leaders.
Dean Jim Jiambalvo and Advisory Board Chair Annie Young-Scrivner
There is one more way you can support your alma mater: advocacy. While our private funding has continued to grow, we are ranked the LOWEST among 23 peer flagship universities in combined state support and tuition per student. We truly have done more with less. But we also have an opportunity to highlight the value that Foster provides to the UW and the state of Washington.
With your advocacy and your role in Washington’s dynamic business community, we can realize our school’s full potential for generations to come. Dean Jiambalvo set an ambitious goal for us when he became dean 14 years ago: to become the best public business school in America. The Advisory Board believes this remains the standard to which we must aspire and work.
Join us in making the UW Foster School of Business the #1 public business school in the nation.
If you have questions or ideas to enhance education, please connect with our Foster Alumni Network by emailing [email protected]. I believe you will make a difference.
Wishing you a fabulous 2019!
-Annie Young-Scrivner
In addition to her role leading the Foster School Advisory Board, Annie Young-Scrivner is the CEO of Godiva Chocolatier and serves on the board of directors at Tiffany & Co. She and her husband Scott are both proud Huskies.
