University Trustee Louis Perlmutter '56 and his wife, Barbara Perlmutter, donated $5 million to establish an Institute for Global Business Leadership at the International Business School to prepare students for leadership roles in companies and governments around the world, the University announced last Wednesday. International Business School Dean Bruce Magid explained that global business leadership is about preparing someone to be a leader who is comfortable operating in the global marketplace and understands different cultural values and different regulatory, business and economic environments.

Magid said the new institute is "deepening and broadening" what IBS already offers, in terms of global finance and global entrepreneurship.

"For some time, I have felt that it was important for business schools who are trying to prepare graduates to face the challenges in the global marketplace [to offer] those students an in-depth look at not only financial markets which dominate the global economy . but also on the global corporations that also have a major impact on the operators of the global economy," Perlmutter said.

Magid said MBA students at the IBS who want a more specialized focus in global business leadership can take a specific set of courses offered through the Institute and all MBA students in IBS can apply for summer research money to study business leadership overseas at IBS' 19 foreign partner universities. IBS will initially offer four fellowships of $10,000 each.

Magid said there will be about four to six classes available through the new center for graduate students, with the possibility of courses for undergraduates following after the program is started. With the funding from the Perlmutters, IBS is seeking to secure new faculty to teach the courses, in addition to existing faculty.

Perlmutter said IBS' longtime global focus was an important consideration for him in deciding to create the new Institute at Brandeis. He said that because Brandeis is a young university, it is more flexible in terms of establishing new institutes in order to meet the needs of a changing society.

He pointed out that the Institute fits the Brandeis legacy of social justice. "It's very important, I think, for graduates of business schools to have a sense of social responsibility," he said. In addition, he said that as a respected research university, Brandeis has a large number of resources available to the IBS and the new Institute.

Magid said, "There are a lot of centers for leadership in the United States, but there is not any one center for global business leadership." He said the Perlmutters realized that there was a "need for melding financial market knowledge and business knowledge."

The Center officially opens today with a symposium at 10 a.m. in the Sachar International Center with a keynote address by Reuben Mark, chairman of the board of directors for the Colgate-Palmolive Company. A panel will follow with Lawrence Weinbach, former chairman, president and CEO of Unisys, an information technology company, Kenneth M. Jacobs, deputy chairman of Lazard Worldwide, and CEO of Lazard North America, an investment bank, and Prof. Catherine L. Mann (IBS). Betty Wong, Reuters global head of editorial operations, will moderate the event, which will focus on how to be a leader in the new global economy.

After the opening on Tuesday, Magid said IBS will intensify efforts to search for more partner universities, faculty to teach special courses and a director for the Institute. He added that the institute is aiming to attract corporate support and speakers.

"[The Institute offers] the prospective employer something that is in desperately short supply, which is people who have this holistic view, can come up with comprehensive solutions to very complex problems, can manage change and can think strategically within a worldwide context," Perlmutter said.