Dezsö Horváth, dean of York’s Schulich School of Business, and John Hunkin, chair of the Dean’s Advisory Council and honorary member of York’s Board of Governors, took part yesterday in the groundbreaking ceremony for the school’s new GMR Campus in Hyderabad, India. Schulich signed an agreement last month with GMR Group, one of the world’s leading infrastructure developers, to build the campus.
Set to open in September 2013, it will become the first full-fledged campus of a major, top-ranked international business school in India. The campus will occupy approximately 15 acres of land within GMR’s Aerotropolis development in Hyderabad. The Aerotropolis development will also feature a number of corporate campuses dedicated to various industries, including health care, logistics and aerospace.
“Today’s groundbreaking marks a new chapter in the history of the Schulich school – and a new chapter in the history of business education in India,” said Horváth. “We are delighted to be establishing our footprint here, in a region of India that is fast becoming one of the new hubs of the 21st century global economy.”
Right: Foreground from left, V. Raghunathan, CEO, GMR Varalakshmi Foundation; G.M. Rao, group chairman of GMR Group; N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, chief minister of Andhra Pradesh state; and Dezsö Horváth, dean of York’s Schulich School of Business, press the button to mark the groundbreaking ceremony of the Schulich School of Business – GMR Campus near Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Shamshabad, India
The GMR Campus will operate as a seamless extension of Schulich’s Toronto campus, ensuring the same high quality of programs, faculty and students. Schulich will initially offer its two-year MBA program to 120 students at the Hyderabad campus, along with executive education programs.
“With the opening of the GMR Campus, Schulich will also become one of the world’s few truly transnational business schools,” said Horváth. “Students from Toronto will have the option of spending either a semester or a full year at the GMR Campus in India. And students at the GMR campus will have the option of studying in Toronto.
Faculty and students will move back and forth between Toronto and Hyderabad, living, learning and teaching in both cities.”
As part of the partnership, Schulich will develop the learning environment and academic infrastructure while GMR Group will provide the land and the physical campus, which will include a residential facility. The GMR Campus will eventually offer other degree and non-degree programming, including an executive MBA, post-MBA diploma in advanced management and executive education. The campus will represent a substantial, long-term capital investment to provide a state-of-the-art setting for students, faculty, staff and executives.
Left: N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, chief minister of Andhra Pradesh state, unveils the plaque to mark the groundbreaking ceremony for the Schulich School of Business – GMR Campus, with John Hunkin, chair of the Dean’s Advisory Council, Schulich School of Business; G.M. Rao, group chairman of GMR Group; Dezsö Horváth, dean of York’s Schulich School of Business; and V. Raghunathan, CEO, GMR Varalakshmi Foundation
“Today’s groundbreaking…marks an important milestone in the trend toward the globalization of management education – a trend that will only intensify in the years ahead,” said Hunkin, a retired chief executive officer of CIBC. “[It] signals the start of an initiative that will strengthen economic and political ties between our two great countries. It will forge a path for other schools to follow. And it will provide tremendous opportunities for students seeking to acquire world-class management training.”
Indian dignitaries in attendance included Shri Kapil Sibal, India’s minister of human resources development, communications and IT, as well as N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, chief minister of Andhra Pradesh state. G.M. Rao, founder and chairman of GMR Group, was also present.
“India is rapidly growing in stature on the world stage,” said Rao. “With that, expectation from the global community is going up as well. To be worthy of this stature, it is essential to provide the right platform for value-centric leadership development through world-class management education from Indian shores.”
Rao, who received an honorary degree at York’s Spring 2011 Convocation in June, said GMR Group partnered with Schulich to develop a business institution “that will develop leaders of tomorrow, equipped with much needed sensitivity and understanding of diversity in many forms, and clear conviction about the need for sustainability of planet, people and profit.”