Letter from Dr. George K. Najjar

Dean  & Professor

Suliman S. Olayan School of Business

Dear Colleagues,

April 3 will go into the annals of the OSB as a memorable day establishing a sharp divide between before and after. As of now, we are officially AACSB accredited in league with the elite in global business education, and poised for greater international recognition.  This is the kind of watershed event that marks our transition to the next level, and sets us on a course of competitive positioning that will do justice to your dedication, hard work and inspiring sense of commitment.

To work with colleagues like you is a dean’s dream.  My sense of being privileged is matched only by my realization that the best is yet to come. Your toil, patience, sacrifice and boundless energy have paid off remarkably, and will continue to do so with an accelerating multiplier effect.

In as much as I am certain that this is indeed a collective achievement owed to each and every one of you, I will be amiss if I did not single out the stellar role of Carla Sayegh who bore a disproportionate part of the burden in an arduous process. Carla contributed to the AACSB accreditation process with zeal, competence and infinite patience. On your behalf and mine a ton of accolades to Carla.

Events like this are well worth celebrating. In that spirit, please reserve the evening of May 5 with your spouses for a major celebratory Gala dinner at the Phoenicia Hotel.  BOT Chair, Dr. Morris, will be there together with President Dorman, Trustee Hutham Olayan, other trustees, Sheikh Khalid Olayan, AACSB President John Fernandes and a big crowd of OSB friends and supporters.

As agreed in our retreat, we will now regroup and work out our post-AACSB path. A School that has the likes of you for faculty and staff can only recognize the sky as the limit.

George K. Najjar