A MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN

Dear Alumni and Supporters,

There is not a more vibrant place than Berkeley, and I am thrilled to be serving as your dean. As you will read on these pages, Haas is on an excellent trajectory. All of our programs are top ranked. We have started new interdisciplinary programs and have more on the way. We have increased funding to attract the best and brightest students and faculty. And we continue to offer you world-class benefits and career resources to make the most of your alumni experience.

In my travels, I have been struck by your enthusiasm and generosity to help Haas stay at the forefront of management education. Our vision is audacious. We aim to forge entrepreneurial leaders who will rise, in the Berkeley Haas spirit, to address our biggest challenges: innovation, inclusion, and sustainability. Thanks to your strong support, I feel confident that we will achieve this vision.

Looking back, fiscal year 2019 was one of transition and introspection for Berkeley Haas. I would like to thank Interim Dean Laura D’Andrea Tyson, who graciously assumed the helm of Haas—and declined a dean’s salary so Berkeley Haas would have more funding—until I began my tenure on January 1, 2019. Laura charged school leaders with creating a sweeping Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Action Plan to bolster enrollment of underrepresented minorities at Haas and to develop a more inclusive environment.

I am happy to report that I have continued that DEI work and our efforts to attract more students. In the spring, we doubled scholarship support and appointed a chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer. The increased scholarship funding paid off. There is still much work to be done, and we will continue until we get it right.

I am working hard to grow our research faculty (whose size has not increased in 40 years!), build partnerships across campus, and make Haas the destination for entrepreneurial leaders. As a mission-driven business school, Berkeley Haas changes lives. That is a profound responsibility, one I am committed to fulfilling with your help.

Thank you for all you do for Berkeley Haas.

Sincerely,


ANN HARRISON
BANK OF AMERICA DEAN
BERKELEY HAAS