London Business School has partnered with Goldman Sachs to establish a new scholarship for full-time MBA students. Created to highlight the company’s commitment to diversity, the Goldman Sachs International Scholarship will award the first £20,000 scholarship to a deserving MBA candidate starting the program in Autumn 2008. The scholarship selection process will take into consideration financial need along with academic merit.

A statement issued by LBS last week says “Goldman Sachs is delighted to be working with London Business School to launch a new scholarship award. This scholarship will be directed at international students who are considering studying for the MBA. We hope the Goldman Sachs Scholarship will strengthen our global reach and continue to demonstrate our commitment to diversity.”

More information about the Goldman Sachs International Scholarship can be found on the MBA scholarships pages of the London Business School website.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been appointed the Howland Distinguished Fellow for the 2008-2009 academic year, where he will lead a seminar on faith and globalization to be jointly coordinated by the Yale School of Management and the Yale Divinity School. The course in which he will participate with Yale faculty will examine issues of faith and globalization. In addition, Blair will participate in a number of events around the campus. His efforts at Yale relate to the work of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation that he will be launching later this year. (more…)

This week’s GMAT challenge from PrepForTests.com is a problem solving question.

Have a go at answering this and then review your answer.

You may still be waiting to hear from the school of your dreams, but meanwhile, these two upcoming conferences should definitely be on your radar. Columbia University is holding its 10th annual Latin American Business Association (LABA) Conference on Friday, March 28; and on April 1, the Whitman School of Management’s Falcone Center for Entrepreneurship, in partnership with KeyBank, will host the sixth annual Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship (WISE) Conference.

The LABA Conference aims to bring together prominent leaders, students and members of the community to discuss business, economic and political trends in Latin America. Building on previous years, the theme for the 2008 conference will be “Latin America: Growth Perspectives in a Shifting Political Landscape” and will provide a forum for speakers and attendees to analyze the current political landscape and the various implications and opportunities set for the region’s development in the business arena.

With such high-profile featured speakers as former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo and former Colombian President Cesar Gaviria, the LABA Conference has grown to become one of the most important conferences at CBS, attracting students from different nationalities and backgrounds that share an interest in the region.

The WISE Conference, an event created by the Falcone Center to promote and expand women’s entrepreneurial activities, annually brings together well-known women and aspiring entrepreneurs to share and discuss innovative ideas on creating, maintaining, and growing businesses. Notable speakers include Robin Koval, founder of the Kaplan Thaler Group; Gail Perry-Mason, first vice president of investments of Oppenheimer & Co., as well as host of the award-winning talk show, “Building Wealth”; and Sharon Hadary, executive director of Center for Women’s Business Research, an esteemed non-profit research institute helps women entrepreneurs develop business ideas.

Breakout sessions, divided into “startup” and “growth” tracks, will address the needs of entrepreneurs at different stages of their ventures. “Startup” will include topics on writing a business plan, building your business by becoming an expert, painless accounting for entrepreneurs, and keys to success in a retail venture. “Growth” will include sessions on integrated strategies, growing a business with an exit strategy in mind, entrepreneurial marketing, and a discussion on how to get government contracts.

“We are excited to hold this inspirational annual event to promote women in business,” says Nola Miyasaki, executive director of the Falcone Center. “It is a wonderful opportunity for participants to share in the creativity, ingenuity, and determination of the guest speakers and to explore their own potential for starting a business. Entrepreneurship is a crucial element for growth in this country, and especially in Central New York, leading to new ideas and new successes.”

Click here to register for the LABA Conference.

Click here to register for the WISE Conference.

Washington University’s Olin Business School announced yesterday that it will offer a major in health care management to meet an increasing demand for trained professionals in the health care industry. The program features at its core the Olin Grand Rounds course, which allows students to gain a deeper understanding of the interplay between business and medicine through case studies and lectures.

Advances in medicine, a steadily increasing average life span, and low birth rates in the United States indicate that older persons will comprise an increasing percentage of the US population. Recently, the market for health care has been growing to accommodate the needs of this aging segment, and investors have noticed (see “Investors look to health field“).

Several other business schools provide health care related course offerings. Harvard Business School, for example, launched its Healthcare Initiative program in 2005. Other notables include Wharton, which offers a Health Care Systems major.

Leoneda Inge (Columbia Business School ’08) blogs from South Korea after her first day on a spring break Chazen International Study Tour with 27 fellow MBA students.

Musings Behind Admissions needs answers now in an angst-filled post that asks whether ordinary people attend business school, or are top programs stocked to the rafters with Purple Heart recipients, Scrabble champions, and policy advisors to the White House.

One Columbia J-termer’s B-School Odyessy offers a post about the MBA Business Plan Competition presented by MBA Jungle Magazine.

Happy Bunny’s MBA Quest shares study tips for people preparing for the GMAT.

And for those who have already aced the entrance exam, Play the Game of Life is launching a free online resource, GMATmastery.com, and wants to interview anyone who scored over 720.