DEAN'S INITIATIVES

Dean Harrison continues to build on a strong foundation for the school, and her vision for the future includes prioritizing the following areas for growth:

  • Entrepreneurship and innovation
  • Diversity, equity, and inclusion
  • Leveraging the Berkeley advantage to build programs in sustainable business

We made significant progress on each of these areas in the past year. In the entrepreneurship arena, Berkeley Haas secured a historic Julia Morgan house on Piedmont Avenue to become an Entrepreneurship Hub for cross-campus collaborations on student ventures. We also added a ninth academic group—the virtual Entrepreneurship and Innovation Group—to accommodate our growing academic strength and focus in entrepreneurship and innovation.

We welcomed David Porter, our new chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer, who has accelerated our momentum in building a culture of inclusion and increasing the diversity of our students, faculty, and staff.

Interest in dual-degree programs—a competitive advantage for Haas—continued to swell. In Spring 2020, the Robinson Life Sciences Business and Entrepreneurship Program (formerly Biology + Business) welcomed its first official cohort of 13 rising juniors, and interest in the program’s gateway Intro to Biotech course increased 66% from the previous year. In Fall 2019, the program appeared on the UC Berkeley application for the first time, and so far Haas has identified 230 students who are considering pursuing the joint degree between Haas and the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology in their sophomore year.

  • Emily Barnhart-Ross, BS/BA 22

    I chose Berkeley’s Robinson Life Sciences Business and Entrepreneurship Program because I will have the tools to design efficient experiments, lead productive teams, and improve the life sciences and healthcare industries.

  • Gary Liu, BS/BA 22

    As a physician, my impact [will be] limited to the tip of my scalpel. Combining biology and business [will allow] me to do more with my passions, injecting a fresh, sustainable perspective into both the business and the medical fields that I plan to explore.

  • Ashlee Chung, BS/BA 22

    The Robinson Life Sciences Business and Entrepreneurship Program will offer me the skill sets necessary to understand both the R&D and strategic aspects of health care companies and allow me to apply it successfully in an advisory or finance role.

  • Emma Caress, BS/BA 22

    The Robinson Life Sciences Business and Entrepreneurship Program is essential in my particular case: it is the academic preparation I need to redefine radiology modality and create innovative medical imaging technology. My interest goes beyond software and analytic capabilities; it requires combining scientific knowledge and business acumen.

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