Troy, N.Y. — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Lally School of Management & Technology is one of nine new schools to be named to BusinessWeek magazine’s 2007 list of top 50 undergraduate business programs. The Lally School makes its debut at number 40 on the list, which is in its second year of publication. 

“The Lally School is proud of its first-time ranking among the elite 50 universities in the nation,” said David Gautschi, dean of the Lally School. “Our undergraduate program creates leaders who are actively sought after by a wide variety of business organizations, and many of our graduates start their own businesses. This recognition demonstrates that we can bring the Lally School into the community of the very best business schools in the world.” 

The BusinessWeek rankings measure schools in several areas, including recruitment of graduates, salary offers, and quality of academic programs. To identify the best undergraduate business programs, BusinessWeek used five distinctive measures, including a survey of nearly 80,000 business majors at top schools and a poll of undergraduate recruiters. 

“The academic rank and the ranking our students give the program signals to us that we can improve in stature in the short term,” Gautschi said. “We hope to do this by cultivating closer ties with industry partners in the United States and abroad; and by launching two innovative new programs in technology commercialization and entrepreneurship, and financial technology.”

More than 350 undergraduate students are enrolled in the Lally School. Students in the undergraduate program take courses in a number of areas that include finance, marketing, human behavior, information technology, innovation and entrepreneurship, operations management, and organizational analysis and development. In addition, students are encouraged to take courses from Rensselaer’s other schools in areas of cognitive science, humanities and social sciences, architecture, and computer science.  

Gautschi noted that participation in such courses provides students with a strong background in analytical reasoning, inter-personal skills, and an understanding of how to use technology to their competitive advantage in making business decisions. Students also understand and learn the importance of social responsibility, and how to seek out the ethical and social implications of their business choices, he said. 

In an effort to enhance the overall student experience, the Lally School works closely with Rensselaer’s student services offices, and also has created its own student services office, which houses the undergraduate program administration and academic advisers. This “one-stop shopping” creates a natural gathering area where Lally School students can get more personalized attention to discuss advising matters, obtain academic forms and program information, or get help with any other needs.
 
“Changing times demand a new way to teach business leaders,” Gautschi said. “The Lally School is relatively small with a collegial faculty and students who expect and create change. This mind-set creates an environment that fosters innovation and entrepreneurial thinking, and the faculty and students are working shoulder-to-shoulder to advance thought and practice in areas of commercialization of technology with global reach and global impact.” 

About Rensselaer’s Lally School
Rensselaer’s Lally School of Management & Technology was founded in 1963 as an integral part of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the nation’s oldest degree-granting technological university. Building on Rensselaer’s heritage of more than 175 years of leadership in science and engineering, the Lally School is dedicated to advancing business through innovation. The Lally School’s curriculum is designed to produce leaders who combine creative passion with the ability to integrate technology across business functions. The faculty emphasizes the value of hands-on experience available through campus resources such as the Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship and the nation’s first on-campus business incubator. Rensselaer’s Lally School offers graduate and undergraduate degree programs in management, doctoral programs in management and technology, an Executive MBA program, and a joint Sino-U.S. MBA for companies operating in China. For more information on the Lally School, go to www.lallyschool.rpi.edu.