From the Edward Jones Dean: April 2021

It is a real pleasure to connect with the Chaifetz School of Business community for the first time in my tenure as Edward Jones Dean. These first several months, particularly during these unusual times, have passed quickly, and I have especially enjoyed meeting our community albeit on virtual platforms. Almost a hundred alumni attended the recent "Coffee with the Dean" events, where we had robust and engaging conversation. And it was an honor to host alum Joe Duran, who spoke to our students about incorporating Jesuit values into business practices at our "Mission Meets the Market" event. I am thankful to our entire community for your warm welcome and incredible support. I look forward to building robust relationships with our students, alumni and friends, who never fail to impress with their hard work and ingenuity.

Spring has arrived, and with it plenty of good news: our graduate programs have again received top rankings from U.S. News & World Report, our accreditation was recently extended by the AASCB, and, perhaps best of all, SLU’s vaccine clinic has already vaccinated over 1,200 eligible students, faculty, staff and employee household members. After a challenging year, things are truly moving in a positive and encouraging direction. 

I also express my admiration for our students, who have persevered and remained dedicated to their education throughout the challenges presented by the pandemic. Despite the obstacles of the past year, our students have continued to gain excellent experience through hands-on classroom learning, business analytics practicum projects and competitive internships. When they graduate in a few months, our class of 2021 will be well-prepared to enter the workforce or graduate school, and we could not be more proud of them.

We always want to keep up with the lives of our alumni post graduation, so please keep us in the loop about your endeavors and successes--we were grateful to chat recently with one alum, Joe Fischer (‘04), about his journey from the Chaifetz School to entrepreneurship. 

I look forward to staying in touch and sharing more from the Chaifetz School and our community. There is certainly much to celebrate.

Sincerely,

Barnali Gupta, Ph.D. 
Edward Jones Dean
Professor of Economics
Chaifetz School of Business