Quest for innovation and excellence earns honours
It took the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology's business school less than 20 years to become Asia's premier research and learning institute, thanks to the vision and dedication of its faculty.
Established as an integral part of the university, the business school started offering degree programmes from undergraduate to PhD in 1991.
It began fulfilling its mission of contributing to the region's social and economic transformation in 1993 when its first class of full-time master of business administration (MBA) students graduated, followed by the graduation of part-time MBA students in 1994.
In 1999, its MBA programme was the first in Asia to be included in the Financial Times annual ranking.
This year, it broke into the top 10 MBA programmes of the world, achieving the No9 spot in the Financial Times rankings. It also ranked among the top 10 in the world for the extensiveness and quality of its research.
In its continuous quest for teaching innovation and excellence, the school partnered with the Kellogg Graduate School of Management of Northwestern University in Chicago to launch the Kellogg-HKUST Executive MBA programme in 1998. It marked the first time an Asian school had offered a joint-degree programme with a leading international business school. In 2002, the school expanded its reach to cover parts of the mainland by offering MBA and international EMBA programmes in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.
The school was the first in the region to be awarded accreditation by both the United States-based Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business in 1999 and the European Quality Improvement System in 2000. Through the accreditations, the school has begun to receive global recognition as its programmes have consistently been positioned among the best in the world by the international media.
Its multinational faculty members - all PhDs - are considered to be among the most qualified in the world. In November 2007, the school began to offer the joint programme of master of science in global finance in partnership with New York University's Stern School of Business.
Last year, the Kellogg-HKUST EMBA once again reached the top spot in the Financial Times rankings.
To foster a close connection to the community, the business school rolled out a series of initiatives, including the online version of 'HKUST Business Insights', a weekly column in the Hong Kong Economic Journal and events on topical issues.
