A message from the Executive Dean

Dear alumni, partners and friends,

Welcome to another edition of Insider. I’m writing to you at a time when there is a national conversation around the purpose of Australian universities, and I’m delighted to say that Macquarie Business School (MQBS) has never been stronger and more loved by its students, alumni, research partners and local community.

At MQBS we remain steadfastly focused on building tomorrow’s workforce and citizens through courses co-designed with industry that excite and challenge students to think differently about the world. The student experience we offer is regarded as the highest in the Sydney basin for undergraduate business, according to our latest student experience scores.

Over the last few months, we have hosted a fantastic showcase of storytelling and discussion about some of the most important topics in business. At the Women Leadership in Accounting and Finance Forum on 1 August, we heard from eight women leaders across various sectors as they discussed what employers are doing to attract and support women into business careers. Each panellist shared their own unique insights – you can read the main takeaways below. As a commitment to supporting female students studying at the school, we have partnered with Future Women in our MBA program to provide additional mentoring, career development planning and networking opportunities. Future Women is a member-led organisation committed to achieving gender equality in Australian workplaces. The Insights into Instability event on 17 July shed some light on how to prepare for uncertainty in business with attendees hearing from an esteemed panel of experts about the likely causes of the next financial crisis, the perception of risk in today’s dynamic business world and how the global economy would cope with instability in the financial market.

MQBS has continued its strong research success and impact in the last quarter. The Menopause Research Group, led by Professor Rebecca Mitchell, informed a Senate inquiry into issues related to menopause and perimenopause. Professor Hanlin Shang from the Department of Actuarial Studies and Business Analytics was awarded a prestigious Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship to develop new theories, better models and faster algorithms to produce forecasts for use by government, financial markets, and the superannuation and insurance industries. Our Department of Actuarial Studies and Business Analytics was also recently ranked third in Actuarial Science and Risk Management & Insurance among all global business schools in the renowned UNL Global Research Rankings.

Finally, you may have seen the announcement that I have accepted the new position of Deputy Vice-Chancellor (People and Operations), where I will take responsibilities relevant to all four faculties at Macquarie University. I will remain a faculty member of MQBS and will support the incoming Executive Dean when they are appointed to maintain our rapid progress. Members of the MQBS Executive Committee have been instrumental in leading our outstanding trajectory of recent years, and I’m leaving the business school in excellent hands. We remain grateful for your engagement with us – whether that be through your involvement in our Industry Partnership Program, volunteering in our top-ranked courses, being a research collaborator or being a community advocate.

We look forward to continuing to partner with you to strive for excellence and make a lasting impact on the world.

With deepest gratitude and warmest regards,

Eric Knight

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