The 2013-2014 MBA application to the Indian School of Business (ISB) is now live. Here are the deadlines and essay prompts for the upcoming admissions cycle.

Cycle One

Deadline: September 15, 2013

Notification: On or before November 15, 2013

Cycle Two

Deadline: November 30, 2013

Notification: On or before February 15, 2014.

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Essay 1: Attitude, skills and knowledge differentiate people. Elaborate with two examples on how you would differentiate yourself. (300 words max)

Essay 2: How does the ISB PGP tie-in with your career goals? (300 words max)

Essay 3: Pick the most significant achievement (professional or personal) you have had and elaborate on the key learning you took away from it. (300 words max)

Optional Essay: Please provide additional information, if any, that will significantly affect the consideration of your application to the ISB. (300 words max)

The ISB conducts admissions events on the national and international scale at different locations. Click here to register.

Four MBA students from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management took top honors at the 2013 International Impact Investing Challenge on April 26th at the World Bank in Washington, DC.

The third annual competition, hosted and organized by Kellogg and INSEAD, challenged graduate students to propose and defend a sustainable investment strategy that supports progress on global impact issues. Twelve finalist teams presented their proposals to a panel of judges, including experienced officers and investors of family foundations, pension funds and university endowments.

Innovation in Healthcare

The winning team, Outcomes Innovation Capital, included Kellogg students William “BJ” Bronston, Rebecca Johnson, Ratula “Milly” Shome and Nikki Tyler. The team won first place for their outcomes-based security to address the diabetes epidemic in the United States.

“Our team is thrilled at the support we have received regarding the outcomes-based security we developed,” said Tyler, speaking on behalf of the team. “We are excited by both its financial and social potential and look forward to continuing its development in the future.”

The team will receive $10,000. The overall runner up, Thammasat Business School from Thailand, was recognized for EThree Fund and will receive $5,000.

High Performance, High Reward

“This challenge provides a platform for graduate students to create and pitch high-performance, high-reward and high-impact investment strategies to prospective institutional investors,” said Jamie Jones, director of social entrepreneurship at Kellogg.

“Once again, the judges were impressed by the innovative and displays of financial creativity exhibited by the finalists on topics like flexible farm financing, medical education loan models, and funds to address urban food deserts.”

The International Impact Investing Challenge is supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, World Bank Institute, Morgan Stanley, McCall Foundation, Milken Institute, Equilibrium Capital Group, and Impact Assets.

Columbia Business School announced today that Ronald O. Perelman, Chairman and CEO of MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc. and a member of the School’s Board of Overseers, has pledged $100 million to Columbia Business School.  The pledge matches the school’s largest gift ever, and will support the development of Columbia’s Manhattanville Campus.

In recognition of Mr. Perelman’s generosity, the business school will name one of its two buildings on the new campus the Ronald O. Perelman Center for Business Innovation.

Columbia President Lee C. Bollinger said this gift would benefit future generations of Columbia Business School students as well as the wider university community.

“Our world has been changed by the global marketplace, so business schools and universities must respond with new thinking and new structures for learning about our economy and society,” Bollinger said.  “The Perelman Center will be part of an interdisciplinary and environmentally sustainable urban campus that will help define Columbia’s next century.”

Perelman has been a longtime member of the Columbia Business School community, serving on its Board of Overseers since 1994.  He is an active philanthropist who believes powerful results can be achieved when financial resources are leveraged with human resolve.

“Throughout the past four decades Ronald has proven himself to be one of the most accomplished investors and philanthropists of his time. He displays the type of instinct and insight that are hallmarks of a true leader — the very same traits that we seek to instill in our students here at Columbia Business School,” said Glenn Hubbard, Dean of Columbia Business School.

Hubbard noted that the new Perelman Center would allow Columbia to pioneer breakthroughs in management education and help create the classrooms of tomorrow.

The two new Business School buildings on the Manhattanville campus will be designed by renowned New York architecture firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro and will reflect the fast-paced, high-tech, and highly social character of business in the 21st century.  The Ronald O. Perelman Center for Business Innovation will be situated opposite The Henry R. Kravis Building, which is named in recognition of a 2010 gift made by alumnus Henry R. Kravis ’69.

When announcing his generous gift, Perelman said, “The business landscape is changing rapidly and dramatically, and as such the principles that define strong business leadership — such as an entrepreneurial mindset and solving complex challenges — are more important now than ever before.”

“It is our responsibility to ensure that we are building a generation of great business leaders who drive success in an ever-changing, competitive global economy,” Perelman added, “and I believe Columbia Business School has its finger on the pulse of the changing nature of business education. I am extraordinarily pleased to pledge this gift to help them prepare the next generation of business leaders for 21st century challenges.”

The Stanford Graduate School of Business has posted the MBA application deadlines for the 2013-2014 admissions cycle.  This year’s three deadlines are as follows:

Round 1

Deadline: October 2, 2013

Notification: December 11, 2013

Round 2

Deadline: January 8, 2014

Notification: March 26, 2014

Round 3

Deadline: April 2, 2014

Notification: May 7, 2014

The Stanford GSB notes that more applicants have been applying in Round 2 over the past few years, making the second round larger and more competitive. For those considering applying in either Round 1 or Round 2, the school strongly encourages applicants to consider Round 1. All applications are due at 5 p.m. PST.

For additional details, visit the Stanford GSB’s admissions website.

Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management has named M. Eric Johnson as dean effective July 1st, pending approval by the Vanderbilt Board of Trust. Currently, Johnson is associate dean at Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business, where he has been responsible for seven research centers and initiatives as well as its top-ranked MBA program.

Johnson, who called the Owen school “a true gem among the world’s best business schools,” previously spent eight years (1991-99) at Owen, the last three as a tenured associate professor of operations management. He twice won awards for teaching excellence.

“The return of Eric Johnson to Vanderbilt marks the start of an exciting new era at the Owen Graduate School of Management,” said Provost Richard McCarty, in a press release from the school.  “Eric is one of the leading scholars of supply chains and the impact of information technology on corporations. He is also a proven leader whose record of accomplishments at Dartmouth is enviable by any measure.”

Tuck School dean Paul Danos congratulated Johnson on his appointment, saying, “During his time at Tuck Eric was truly an academic leader at the school and an outstanding teacher.  He has been much beloved by students for his flair in the classroom and dedication to their personal transformation and by faculty and staff for his collegiality and wisdom.”

Chris Guthrie, dean of Vanderbilt Law School and head of the search committee that selected Johnson, called his hiring a coup for Vanderbilt, as well as a testament to the strength, vitality and reputation of the Owen School.

As part of her most recent update to the Harvard Business School Director’s Blog, Dee Leopold informed readers the school plans to launch the application for the Class of 2016 at the end of May. Leopold says the Round 1 deadline will be September 16, 2013.

Candidates interested in the 2+2 program for rising college seniors should note there will be a Summer Round with an application deadline of July 15.