Rowan University’s William G. Lawler College of Business (RCB) is, as it’s named after, embracing an industrial model for the greater good.
Established in 1972, 50th anniversary this yearth Commemorating 2022-23 grades, the Department of Public Administration became a business school in 1986 and a community banker and philanthropist dedicated to helping businesses grow in Southern Jersey in 2005. Renamed Rohrer.
Like many of the companies Rohrer has helped fund, the university named after him has grown tremendously without losing its focus on service, community and entrepreneurship.
“Entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial spirit are key to our mission,” said Dr. Sue Lehrman, RCB’s dean since 2015, noting that the university’s entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to success attracts thousands of students each year. He said it attracts students.
princeton review When entrepreneur magazine named the university’s undergraduate entrepreneurship programs among the top 50 in the United States for 2021. It is an acknowledgment of the ideals fostered by Rector Ari A. Houshmand and encouraged in all of Rowan’s schools and colleges.
Lehrman believes in acknowledging that entrepreneurship, taught at RCB and encouraged across campus, means following your passion to achieve great things.
“It’s about thinking and acting in bold, innovative ways,” she said. “Following a model set by Mr. Rohrer and highly encouraged by Dr. Houshmand, we support students and community members in pursuing big ideas, which often means starting a business. increase.”
Overview of RCBs
With four Centers of Excellence and a wide range of degrees, from certificate and baccalaureate programs to an innovative and customizable MBA, you can set the university in your 50s.
University Features:
- A center of excellence in experiential learning, innovation and entrepreneurship, professional development, and responsible leadership.
- 12 advisory boards of regional leaders who help shape the curriculum and provide mentorship, internships and, in many cases, employment opportunities for graduates.
- About 2,000 undergraduates and about 300 graduate students.
- A dedicated team of over 60 full-time and part-time faculty.
- AACSB and ABET accreditation. It is one of the few American business schools to hold both.
business for greater profit
By definition, business schools train students to benefit, but RCB also focuses on how business benefits humanity, Lehrman said. For example, this summer high school students at Think Like an Entrepreneur Academy applied an entrepreneurial lens to tackle the UN’s global sustainability goals, including ending poverty and ensuring clean drinking water. .
“We talk about People, Planet, Profit‘ said Lehmann. “Historically, business schools focused solely on profit, but we focus on the triple bottom line, which we call the 3 Ps.”
Purpose-driven themes span from the dean’s office to four university centers, classrooms and affiliations.
From an MBA concentration in sustainable business practices, Accelerate South Jersey, a program launched this year to help inner-city entrepreneurs, business students help community residents prepare tax-free As far as long-term initiatives go, Lehrman talked about social impact. Always part of the lesson.
“We train businessmen who are committed to a higher purpose,” she said.
sacred place
Steven Kozachin, RCB’s executive director of foreign affairs, who leads the Center for Experiential Learning, said this spring that the project with St. John of God Community Services in Westville will help bring business to the greater good. He said it demonstrated the university’s commitment.
The project involved 68 RCB students developing a marketing plan, studying supply chain and logistics, and providing HR guidance for Holy Grounds. Holy Grounds is a coffee that St. John of God’s clients with special needs want to sell immediately in their retail stores.
“The Holy Grounds Coffee Project is a perfect example of a business for the common good,” said Cozachin. “St. I hope that.”
Legacy of Responsible Leadership
RCB Alumni Joseph Cosgrove ’00, Rowan University’s Class of 2022 Distinguished Graduate, said the lessons he learned from his undergraduate studies have set the tone for his business practices and career pursuits.
As CEO of Pentech Health (Glen Mills, PA) company, Cosgrove leads an organization that has become a leader in patient-specific medicines for dialysis centers and home settings.
In addition to Rowan’s designation as a Distinguished Alumni of the Year, Cosgrove was named the 2016 Markham Innovator of the Year, was inducted into the Philadelphia 100 CEO Hall of Fame, and received the National Kidney Foundation Leadership in Business Award and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
All of this, he said, would not have been possible without learning to put the customer (in his case, the patient) first.
“There is no greater joy than knowing that the products we manufacture and the services we provide contribute to better care,” he said.
Dr. Robert Fleming, one of the university’s longest-serving faculty members, professor of business administration and former president, said the concept of community service, sometimes referred to in business as “servant leadership,” has been around for decades. is a core educational principle within the RCB.
Nationally known as an expert in fire safety and emergency management, Fleming says his experiences, including his work with a volunteer fire company that began in 1972, have always taught him lessons. rice field.
“There are people in our class who don’t read scripts on servant leadership,” Fleming said. “They have lived it. And having someone who actually does that and shares that experience with their students enhances the reputation of Rowan University as well as the College of Business.”
Part of Rohrer’s Legacy
The William G. Rohrer Charitable Foundation has given nearly $20 million to colleges since 1995, including more than $17 million to the College of Business.
Of that, the foundation donated $10 million in 2005 to help RCB students. This was Henry Rowan’s largest donation to the university since his $100 million. In 1999, the Foundation awarded Rowan his $1 million in business scholarships, and in 1995 awarded another $1 million to establish William G. Lawler as Chair of Professorship within the RCB. (In 2000, the Campbell family of Salem donated $1 million to fund the chair of Professor John B. Campbell at the College of Business, named after the late president and chairman of the board of Mannington Mills. ) In 2017, it committed $5 million to establish the William G. Rohrer College of Business Honors Scholarship Program.
Mr. Lawler, the first mayor of Haddon Township (he held the position for 36 years), posthumously funded the William G. Lawler Memorial Library in Haddon Township and the William G. Lawler Memorial Library in Bancroft. Including donations, he left organizations around South Jersey with millions of dollars. Haddonfield School, Camden County Leukemia Society, American Diabetes Association, Arthritis Foundation.
Built on success
RCB opened its Business Hall in 2017, building on a record of success spanning literally decades. Business Hall, a gleaming glass-and-brick building on the north side of Rowan’s Glassboro campus, was designed to allow him to double the college’s enrollment.
To foster relationships within the business hall and across the region, the university offers a wide range of professional partnerships. This includes a program last year with Saxbys Coffee to launch a student-run coffee house in a business hall. A talk with his CEO of Wawa, Chris Gheysens. and partnership with St. John of God Community Services.
As part of the university’s 50th At its 50th anniversary celebration, RCB provided 50 freshmen with a business wardrobe to attend special events, job fairs, and interviews, building on its first half-century of success with a series of special awards. Hold an event. They include:
To support 50 of RCBththe university also has a fundraiser for donors to give $50 or other gifts to help keep the university strong and vibrant for the next 50 years.
“We wanted to make 50th A meaningful day for students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors and the community. “As part of that, we host events that speak to our mission.”
