The Lally School of Management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute recently received a five-year extension of accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB), the premier accrediting agency for higher education degree programs in business.

Established in 1916, AACSB is the world’s largest business education alliance, connecting educators, learners, and business to create the next generation of great leaders. Situated in a top-ranked technological university, the Lally School of Management offers bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in business-related disciplines with a focus on the intersection of management, data analytics, and technology.

“Reaccreditation from AACSB is a well-earned recognition of the high standards of excellence maintained by the Lally School of Management,” said Prabhat Hajela, provost at Rensselaer. “As an integral and vibrant component of the nation’s first technological college, Lally students and faculty have unique opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration that positions them particularly well for professional success.”

Lally was first accredited by AACSB in 1977. During the multiyear accreditation process, schools focus on developing and implementing a plan to align with AACSB’s accreditation standards of excellence in areas relating to strategic management and innovation; student, faculty, and staff as active participants; learning and teaching; and academic and professional engagement.

To maintain its standing, an AACSB-accredited institution must document regular advancements in support of its stated mission and strategic management plan. Additionally, it must facilitate a rigorous school visit by an AACSB peer review team that engages with the school community as well as external advisory board members of the school. The AACSB review process is conducted every five years and creates an ongoing focus on continuous improvement.

“This achievement conveys the strength of Lally’s education and research programs to current stakeholders, prospective students, and alumni alike and demonstrates our sustaining focus on the future and our growth potential,” said Chanaka Edirisinghe, the acting dean of Lally.

With a community of innovative faculty, driven students, and accomplished alumni, Lally continues to advance business education and research in interdisciplinary areas, such as financial technology, supply chain and risk analytics, renewable energy, sustainability, technological entrepreneurship, and management.

Last year, for example, the school launched the new Center for Risks and Advances in Financial Technologies, where scholars, policy leaders, and business practitioners collaboratively address the challenges of supporting cyber technology in the financial industry. A Lally-led team also recently received a multimillion-dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop risk management solutions for the renewable power generation markets. In other research, a Lally professor has developed a robust and highly accurate pricing model for Bordeaux wine futures.

The productivity and resilience of the Lally community shone during the COVID-19 pandemic. One professor’s decades of leading research on remote work has been particularly relevant throughout the global health crisis. Meanwhile, a Lally student was a part of a team that developed a COVID-19 tracing app at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory. Another applied knowledge gained from Lally courses to convert his family’s business into a PPE manufacturing operation.  And a group of Lally faculty and students also used artificial intelligence to detect fake news related to the pandemic.