Johns Hopkins Builds a B-School from Scratch

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Gupta will face many of the same challenges and then some, Sullivan says. It's already been difficult finding students willing to sign up for an unproven program, says Gupta, but finding senior faculty willing to come to a new business school has been by far the "biggest challenge." Since he was named dean, Gupta's been courting academics and selling them on the school's vision. The school currently has 31 full-time faculty , including top scholars from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School (Wharton Full-Time MBA Profile) and Purdue University's Krannert School of Management (Krannert Full-Time MBA Profile), with the ultimate goal of having 90 in five years as the program grows, he says.

Startup Spirit

One of his recent hires is Ravi Aron, who spent seven years at Wharton and a year at USC's Marshall School before accepting a job at Carey as an assistant professor on the research track. Aron says he jumped at the chance to be at a university that places a strong emphasis on the life sciences and medicine, as much of his research focuses on technology, health care, and globalization. He also was attracted to the unique structure of the school; unlike most B-schools, at Carey there are no departments or department chairs, allowing professors more academic freedom, Aron says.

"The school has a 'pull yourselves up by the bootstraps' spirit of a startup and a certain flexibility that I find absolutely exhilarating," Aron says.

While it still has a number of hurdles ahead, the school has managed to accomplish one significant feat: attracting the school's first Global MBA class, which will arrive on campus in August to start the program. To recruit students, the school sent Gupta on an international media tour, tapped into Hopkins' overseas clubs and alumni groups, and participated in MBA tours. This year, 500 students applied for the school's 80 spots, Gupta says. The school's inaugural class is a diverse group; half of the class is international and—almost unheard-of among full-time MBA programs—half the class is female.

Students say they are intrigued by the school's take on business education, which deviates from the traditional core curriculum taught at most MBA programs today. All classes are co-taught by faculty and there are no "typical courses like 101s and 102s" that students must take, Gupta says, though students are required to take a class on business essentials their first semester. Every Friday, the school will invite guest speakers to talk in a seminar setting about topics as varied as politics, ethics, cognitive science, and drama. First-year students are required to take a class called the "Innovation for Humanity Project," where they study emerging markets and later spend three weeks over winter break tackling a business problem in a developing country like Rwanda, Kenya, or Trinidad. Another class, the "Discovery to Market" course, sends students to the medical school to study research and inventions; in their second year, they're expected to take a scientific discovery made at Johns Hopkins and bring it to market. Students will also be required to pick a specialization in their second year, such as life science, energy, or the environment.

Different Approach

Shahd Alshehail, 24, an incoming student from Saudi Arabia, says she was drawn to the program because of its emphasis on emerging markets and entrepreneurship. Before coming to Carey, she helped her family launch a fashion house that helps women in small villages earn money from their needlework, and she wants to return to Saudi Arabia to work as a social entrepreneur. Most of the MBA programs she researched catered to Wall Street or consulting types, while the Carey School seemed to have a different take on business, she says.

"It doesn't feel like a traditional MBA to me, which was a big attraction for me," she says. "It's not just a business degree. There's a social and humanity aspect to it, which is something you can't find anywhere else."

That's not to say students don't have doubts about being the guinea pigs as the school struggles to gain its footing. Aaron Landgraf, 26, a Johns Hopkins alumnus with a master's degree in environmental planning and management and four years of work experience at a software company specializing in online college applications, says he had some concerns about the school before enrolling, including the scope of the alumni network and the caliber of the faculty. But, after spending time at the school this spring and talking to faculty and staff, those worries quickly disappeared, he said. Says Landgraf: "I expect the school to try very, very hard to make sure we are successful because our success is their success."

Damast is a reporter for Businessweek.com.

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