BusinessWeek ranks the Robins School of Business at the University of Richmond No. 12 among America's top undergraduate business programs, in the 2009 annual rankings released Feb. 26.

The Robins School moved up from No. 20 on last year's list, No. 23 in 2007 and No. 25 in 2006-the first year that BusinessWeek published rankings.

To identify the top programs, BusinessWeek used nine measures of student satisfaction, post-graduation outcomes and academic quality. The Robins School tied the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and Wake Forest University's Calloway School for No. 1 in academic quality.

Robins scored the highest-possible mark -- A-plus -- in both teaching quality and facilities and services. Other standout factors included a faculty-student ratio among the lowest of the top 50; high rank as an MBA feeder school (sending the most graduates on to the top 35 MBA programs); strong student engagement in academic activity; a jump in reputation among recruiters and student satisfaction; and a continuing increase in graduate's median starting salaries.

Jorge Haddock, the school's dean, said that high-quality faculty and students, strong corporate support and alumni backing continue to drive Richmond's rise. "The generosity of alumni and friends enables us to provide students with a small-class environment that is conducive to high-quality education. And the median starting salary of our graduates has increased again this year, continuing the upward trend of the past several years," Haddock said.

The Robins School of Business is the only fully accredited, top-ranked undergraduate business school that also is part of a top-ranked liberal arts university. BusinessWeek also recognizes the school as having one of the top 15 part-time MBA programs in the country. Its executive education division offers open enrollment courses and customized leadership development programs for individuals and businesses.

For a complete list of the rankings, visit the BusinessWeek website. To connect with Robins School students for internship and job opportunities, contact the Career Development Center.

The Robins School of Business is proud to introduce the Robins Summer Business Institute. Designed for recent college graduates (rising college juniors and seniors accepted on a space available basis), this intensive, 3-week program provides the latest business fundamentals and insight necessary for a career path in today's corporate, government, or non-profit environment. Dynamic classroom interaction, case studies, and co-curricular activities combine to offer participants increased knowledge, skills, and confidence in the areas of economics, leadership, marketing, global business, information technology, accounting and many more. Get ahead in today's business-oriented world by earning your certificate from the Robins Summer Business Institute. Space is limited. Apply today!

For more information or to apply, visit us on the Web or call us at (804) 289-8019.

The design and construction of Queally Hall (the expansion of the Robins School of Business) continue as planned. The distinguishing feature of the building is the round tower. Queally Hall will provide additional space for new classrooms, faculty and staff offices, a new finance trading floor, student activities space, a cafe, and an auditorium, among others. It is scheduled to be available for use in the Spring of 2011.

The lack of ethical leadership is clearly emerging as the key issue behind the downfall of many corporations today. On November 14th and 15th, the Robins School of Business co-hosted a timely conference with the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business which attracted over 20 academic experts from around the country to discuss stakeholder theory and its relevance in today's challenging world economic climate.

Stakeholder theory is the theory of strategic management and business ethics that addresses morals and values in managing an organization. It is among the most popular frameworks in discussing business ethics and is increasingly important in both popular and scholarly discussions of corporate strategy. Stakeholder theory first emerged in the early 1980's suggesting that corporations needed to begin looking beyond the traditional shareholder wealth maximization models to the needs of the company's stakeholders - investors, employees, local communities, suppliers, and customers - for profit maximization. Stakeholder theory argues that there are other parties vitally involved in the process of value creation beyond equity financiers.

Conference organizers and Robins School management professors Robert Phillips and Jeff Harrison have published books on the subject of stakeholder theory. Phillips, who authored Stakeholder Theory and Organizational Ethics relayed, "Stakeholder theory reconsiders the assumption of strategic management by moving from self-interested/opportunistic assumptions to value cooperative assumptions. It is a much more collaborative and inclusive approach to creating value for the corporation." Dr. Harrison, with Edward Freeman and Andrew Wicks of the Darden School of Business recently co-authored Managing for Stakeholders: Survival, Reputation, and Success, which outlines key principles and techniques for managing a broad range of stakeholder relationships.

Stakeholder theory helps redefine academic conceptions of the modern corporation to be more in line with the activities of practicing managers as well as global social norms through attention to all those actors who make the firm viable and productive.