ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management is among 15 business schools that earned high marks this October from the Aspen Institute and the World Resources Institute for giving graduate business students a solid training in social-impact and environmental-management issues.

The fourth such report by the two groups since 1998, "Beyond Grey Pinstripes 2003: Preparing MBAs for Social and Environmental Stewardship," challenges business schools to better arm graduate business students with skills critical for effective leadership in a changing world. The report highlights 15 schools that are either "cutting-edge" or "with significant activity" in the teaching of such skills. It includes data reported from 100 business schools in 20 countries.

Among the initiatives at Cornell's Johnson School that propelled it to among the top 15 are the establishment of the S.C. Johnson Professorship in Sustainable Global Enterprise through a gift from Sam Johnson, chairman of S.C. Johnson and Son, the hiring of Stuart Hart to fill that endowed chair as well as other faculty to teach courses on sustainability issues, and the work of two active student groups -- the Community Impact Club and the Energy Club. The groups sponsored a symposium this September, "The Business Case for Sustainable Enterprise," that also was singled out for recognition in the report.

The citation is "a very positive thing in terms of visibility and attracting the best students," said Hart, who credited the student groups with inspiring interest among others at the school, among them Robert Swieringa, the school's Anne and Elmer Lindseth Dean.

"We've found that our students need critical thinking skills if they are to become leaders in the fast-changing global business environment," said Swieringa. "Such skills involve learning how to make the best ethical as well as economic decisions and taking a broad strategic view, one in which environmental and social responsibility are seen as growth opportunities as well as the right thing to do." "The dean's commitment and Sam Johnson's commitment show we're very serious about building something world class," said Hart. "We're just getting started. Wait two more years and see what we can do."

Hart, who teaches a range of courses on strategic sustainability, was a panelist at the student-sponsored symposium on successful sustainability and alternative energy initiatives this September. So was Fred Keller, a Cornell alumnus and CEO of Cascade Engineering, a company that hires, trains and retains former recipients of public assistance. Keller taught a course at the school in sustainable businesses this fall, and Johnson School Professor Alan McAdams offers a seminar in sustainable development. In addition, visiting lecturer Elena Iankova will teach a course in corporate citizenship, and Michael Lounsbury, the J. Thomas Clark Professor of Entrepreneurship and Personal Enterprise and assistant professor in organizational behavior and sociology at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations and the Johnson School, is teaching a course in social entrepreneurship.

Such programs and courses "are exceptions to otherwise peripheral coverage of these and other related issues by the majority of business schools," stated an Oct. 6 press release from the Aspen Institute and the World Resources Institute announcing the Beyond Grey Pinstripes 2003 report. For more information see these Web sites: http://www.beyondgreypinstripes.org and http://www.aspen.org .

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