First US-India joint EMBA program announced at IIT Bombay

Building on a strong partnership forged through years of cooperation on issues ranging from global energy and sustainability to leadership and academics, Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) have announced a joint Executive MBA (EMBA) programme aimed at the international executive.

An MoU on this was signed on June 29, 2014 by Prof. Devang V. Khakhar, Director, IIT Bombay and Prof. Mark S. Wrighton, Chancellor, WUSTL.

Speaking at the occasion, Prof. Khakhar remarked "We have been employing a wonderful partnership with WUSTL for past several years and we decided to further this relationship by collaborating in an area, where we felt there was a great need. Hence, this EMBA programme. Olin Business School, WUSTL is the leader in the field and an EMBA programme with them will attract top professionals in Mumbai, while offering a possibility to connect with technology departments of IIT Bombay".

The new programme is the first of its kind to confer an MBA degree from both an Indian and an American university and will be modeled after WUSTL's highly ranked Executive MBA in China and the United States.

"I am hopeful that this joint degree programme will be competitive with the very best in the world" added Prof. Wrighton.

In classes taught by world-class faculty from WUSTL's Olin Business School and IIT Bombay's Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, executives will be given the knowledge and tools to immediately apply lessons learned to contemporary and emerging business challenges. The curriculum is rooted in leadership development and innovation, including theoretical and practical training, and intergrates local and cultural perspectives.

"This programme will create the positive mindset of executives to orient themselves toward facing the challenges related to innovation, leadership and entrepreneurship," said Prof. S. Bhargava, Head, Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, IIT Bombay.

The programme will be spread over a duration of 18 months, where classes will be offered four days per month in Mumbai and it will end with a two-week capstone experience at Washington University. The first session of the program will commence in early 2015.

Source: IIT Bombay