Yale SOM Welcomes New Students to Residential Programs
At Evans Hall, Orientation Week began with reflections from school leaders on community, leadership, and SOM’s 50th anniversary.
The newest members of the SOM community gathered in the Shen Courtyard on August 17 to hear remarks from school leaders, marking the start of their weeklong Orientation.
Students represented the full-time MBA, Master of Advanced Management, Master’s in Global Business and Society, Master’s in Systemic Risk, Master’s in Asset Management, and Master’s in Technology Management programs. New students in the MBA for Executives and Master’s in Public Education Management programs began their SOM careers last month.
Addressing the new students, Dean Kerwin K. Charles noted that they are beginning their time at SOM as the school celebrates its 50th anniversary. He reflected on the school’s founding mission—educating leaders for business and society—and encouraged students to engage with leadership and faculty; the broader Yale and New Haven communities; and, most importantly, each other.
Charles highlighted the range of experiences and perspectives that students bring to SOM. The “incredibly talented and heterogeneous” incoming class includes musicians, comedians, Olympic-level athletes, CEOs, entrepreneurs, and Fulbright scholars.
“Nothing matters more than your genuine and robust engagement with each other,” Charles said. “They’ll be the most important relationships you make while here.”
Anjani Jain, deputy dean for academic programs and professor in the practice of management, focused on the training students will receive in the classroom.
“Management problems require practical solutions, yet they are beset with ever-changing complexities that defy common sense and require the most rigorous application of thought and analysis,” Jain said. “Our curriculum reflects the depth and breadth of our faculty’s knowledge and makes no apologies for its intellectual rigor.”
Students also heard from Anita Sharif-Hyder, dean of students, who described “innovation” as an enduring theme of SOM’s history and the theme of this year’s Orientation.
“You, our newest class, are joining a half-century-long tradition of reimagining what business education can be,” she said. “You are in this community not just because of your talent and experience, but because of your creativity and your willingness to imagine something better—the same spirit that built this school five decades ago, and that will shape its next 50 years.”
Orientation at SOM will include team-building exercises, community service opportunities, campus tours, and outings to East Rock Park. New students will also hear an address from Anna Blanding ’09, the chief investment officer of the Connecticut Community Outreach Revitalization Program, a nonprofit focused on economic development in New Haven.
The Yale School of Management Orientation Keynote Speaker Series is under the auspices of the Robert J. Silver ’50 Fund for Innovation in Management Education.
