Dean's message

Greetings from the Mike Ilitch School of Business!

As you may know, we are about to celebrate our first anniversary in our new, state-of-the-art home in The District Detroita project that was made possible by a $40 million investment from Mike and Marian Ilitch and an additional $7 million from generous alumni and friends across Michigan and beyond.

It was quite an eventful first year. Here are just a few highlights:

• We kicked off the school year by hosting a ceremonial ribbon cutting with the Ilitch family, key project supporters and others from across the university and The District Detroit.
• Thanks to a generous gift from alumnus Russ Belinsky and the Belinsky Family Trust, we were able to launch the Belinsky Entrepreneurial Learning Laboratory (BELL) last fall. Working hand-in-hand with our academic programs in entrepreneurship and innovation, the BELL will provide financial resources and professional expertise to help Wayne State students and partners launch sustainable, investment-ready startups.
• Our PwC MPREP Scholars program recently completed its own successful first year. A true collaboration between the Ilitch School and our friends at PwC, MPREP aims to prepare young professionals of color by enhancing their education beyond the classroom. The program pairs students with multiple mentors across respective business fields and provides a host of academic and professional support services.
• I'm also very pleased to share with you that, within the last year, our academic programs in global supply chain management have joined the ranks of the nation's top 25, according to Gartner. Gartner's 2018 Top 25 Supply Chain University Rankings listed our undergrad program at 25 and our graduate program at 17.

To say that accomplishments like thesealong with our new name and fantastic new homehave resonated with our key audiences would be a dramatic understatement. Our partnerships with the business community across Southeast Michigan and beyond are stronger than ever, and new students are enrolling in record numbers. Over the last five years, our graduate enrollment has increased by two-thirds to more than 1,400making us the fastest-growing part-time graduate business program in the Midwest and one of the top-five fastest-growing in the entire country.

Here's to a great first year in our new home and many more to come!

Sincerely,

Robert Forsythe
Dean
robert.forsythe@wayne.edu