The "Graduate Business Forum" (GBF) is a United States based non-profitfoundation, best known [1] for its annual global Graduate Business Conference. The conference brings together top business leaders, political leaders, governments and selected students from the top 55 MBA Business Schools in the world to exchange the ideas about best practices on "Student-Government Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)", "Community Services" and to discuss the "Most Challenging Issues" facing the world from the perspective of a responsible leadership.[2] The Forum also organizes a series of regional meetings throughout the year.
The Graduate Business Forum was founded in 1983 by Jim Deveau, a then MBA student and President of the student government at Columbia Business School.[3] Beyond conferences, the Forum produces articles on ethical and responsible leadership of the MBA community and engages its members in business schools or community initiatives.
Organization
The Forum is headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States. It is impartial and not-for-profit and is not tied to any political, partisan or national interest. Its highest governance body is the Board of Directors consisting of business, academic and previous student government leaders from multiple locations worldwide.[citation needed]
Membership
The GBF is a community where leadership is put into action, where best practices are shared, and where globalism is embraced by all its members.
Individual GBF Membership is restricted to elected Student Leaders of the Student Government Bodies of the top 55 MBA Business Schools in the world. Student Leaders are invited upon election to participate in the global activities, events, and network of the Graduate Business Forum.
Business schools that have participated in the GBF and GBC:
Australian Graduate School of Management, Sydney
Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper
Case Western University, Weatherhead
China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)
University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, Kenan-Flagler
University of Oxford
University of Pennsylvania, Wharton
University of Rochester, Simon
University of Southern California, Marshall
University of Texas at Austin, McCombs
University of Virginia, Darden
University of Washington, The Michael G. Foster School of Business
University of Western Ontario, Ivey
University St. Gallen
Washington University in St. Louis, Olin Business School
Wits (Johannesburg)
Yale University, SOM
York University, Schulich
Graduate Business Conference
The Graduate Business Forum's best-known activity is the annual global Graduate Business Conference, which brings together business and political leaders with selected student government leaders from the top 50 MBA Business Schools in the world. They exchange best practices, network, and debate the most pressing issues facing education and the economy from a responsible leadership perspective. The Forum also organizes a series of regional meetings throughout the year.
The Graduate Business Conference has been held since 1983:
YEAR, HOST UNIVERSITY, GBC THEME
2019, ESCP Paris, France: United in Diversity
2018, Copenhagen Business School, The Nordic Way in a Global Context
2017, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Business 4 Good: The Ultimate Challenge!
2016, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, Giving Back: The Responsibility of Future Leaders
2015, China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), Shanghai, The New Normal: China and the World
2014, No conference was held
2013, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad
2012, William E. Simon Graduate School of Business - Rochester, New York, Size Matters
2011, ESADE, Responsible Leadership
2010, University of Maryland (Smith), Post Crisis: Business Leadership in the New Global Economy
2009, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Accessing the Market of Greater China
2008, UC Berkeley (Haas), The Global Leader and the Leader Within
2007, National University of Singapore, The Silk Route
2006, Copenhagen Business School, Discovering Potential
2005, Indiana University (Kelley), Creating Value through Leadership
2004, University of Michigan (Ross), Leading in Dynamic Times
2003, University of Virginia (Darden), Innovate!
2002, Emory University (Goizueta), Getting to the Future First
2001, Cornell University (Johnson), Leading on the Edge
2000, UCLA (Anderson), The Net Effect
1999, University of Texas (McCombs), Driving Technological Change
1998, Washington University (Olin), Business in the Community
1997, Vanderbilt University (Owen), Managing Quality: Quality Managing
1996, UC Berkeley (Haas) , Entrepreneurship
1995, University of Western Ontario (Ivey), Global Competitiveness: What Does it Take?
1994, Case Western University (Weatherhead), The Changing Face of American Industry
1993, New York University (Stern) , Corporate Social Responsibility
1992, Indiana University (Kelley) , Business and the Environment
1991, University of Michigan (Ross) , 1992 and the EEC
1990, University of Washington (Foster), Pacific Rim Countries
1989, University of Virginia (Darden) , Business Ethics and Ideals
1988, Northwestern University (Kellogg), The Services Industry
1987, University of Texas (McCombs) , Innovation for Entrepreneurial Success
1986, University of Pennsylvania (Wharton), The Increasingly International Nature of Business
1985, Duke University (Fuqua) , MBA's in the Information Age
1984, UCLA (Anderson) , The Bottom Line of Leadership
1983, Columbia University , The MBA - A Student Perspective
Global Student Leadership Award
The Student Leadership Award was inaugurated in 1991 by the board of directors of the Graduate Business Forum (GBF) to recognize leadership, innovation, and a commitment to the greater community at the graduate business level. In the past, influential leaders, such as CEOs, prime ministers, presidents, and royalty have bestowed this award upon a student or team during a commemorative banquet at the annual Graduate Business Conference.
Dave Chonowski and Chris Petersen, 2009 awardees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, turned their winning idea into the MBA Veterans Network, a global community of military veteran students and alumni of the world's leading business schools. Their organization has generated significant interest from the business media and has since been featured in both BusinessWeek and the Wall Street Journal.
Member schools may execute up to two nominations for their institution.
^[1]Archived 2011-07-11 at the Wayback Machine, "Ambitious Origins: How it all Began", Graduate Business Forum website
Reference books
Barbara Kellerman, Reinventing Leadership: Making the Connection Between Politics and Business, Published by SUNY Press, 1999, ISBN0-7914-4072-9, 268 pages.
David Bornstein, How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, Published by Oxford University Press US, 2007, ISBN0-19-533476-0, 358 pages.
David Rothkopf, Superclass: The global power elite and the world they are making, Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008, ISBN0-374-27210-7, 400 pages
Mike Moore, A World Without Walls: Freedom, Development, Free Trade and Global Governance, Published by Cambridge University Press, 2003, ISBN0-521-82701-9, 292 pages.
