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Leadership Change at Bainbridge Graduate Institute

Leadership Change at Bainbridge Graduate Institute

Published 05-13-09

Submitted by Bainbridge Graduate Institute

- May 13, 2008 - Bainbridge Graduate Institute (BGI) in Washington, the first graduate school in the U.S. to offer an MBA in Sustainable Business, announced Thursday May 7th the resignation of Dr. Jon C. Strauss and the re-instatement of co-founder Gifford Pinchot III as President.

Dr. Strauss was appointed President last November in a time when co-founder, and then President, Gifford Pinchot was transitioning to a less than central role in the governance of the school. During Dr. Strauss' time as President he dealt with the financial challenges
caused by the slowing of philanthropic giving in the face of the worst financial crisis since the great Depression. Six months later, the institution has made a number of staff reductions, stabilized fund raising, made good progress towards achieving accreditation, and developed a feasible plan that will allow BGI to Change Business for Good through the continued improvement and expansion of its pioneering MBA Program in Sustainable Business.

Dr. Strauss will be returning to his first professional love, engineering education. He has been named as the Interim Dean of Engineering at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. There he will be responsible for leading the continued growth in excellence of this 4,500 student College of Engineering at this 30,000-student university in West Texas. Dr. Strauss is particularly enthused by the prospect of helping TTU achieve its aspiration to become this nation's premiere "Energy University" with a particular emphasis on sustainable energy.

The BGI Trustees and community are grateful for Dr. Strauss’ commitment to BGI and sustainability.

Mr. Pinchot is deeply thankful to the time that Dr. Strauss has given to the organization and is ready to jump back into a leadership position of the school he has lead most of the time since its beginning. "BGI is in the strongest position it has been in since its inception. With that base we can work on taking BGI's justly famous participative learning community to the next level of excellence", said Pinchot.

Gifford Pinchot, in addition to being a co-founder and past President of BGI is the author of 3 books including the best selling Intrapreneuring, which has been published in 15 languages. He has been a consultant to half of the Fortune 100 companies, a successful angel round investor and the CEO of a Silicon Valley software company he sold in 1998. In March of this year was awarded The Olympus Lifetime of Educational Innovation Award. The national program, executed by Olympus in partnership with the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA), recognizes individuals who have fostered or demonstrated innovative thinking in education.

BGI is in its eighth year of delivering a high quality and competitive MBA curriculum focused on Sustainable Business. In a time of economic uncertainty and the immediate need to address issues of climate change, there has never been a more critical time to provide business education that emphasizes creative and innovative solutions that address social, environmental and fiscal responsibility than now. BGI continues to deliver that education.

Ranked #1 in Net Impact's "Business as Unusual 2008" - A Student Guide to Graduate Business Programs and selected by BusinessWeek last year as one of the top design and innovation schools in the world, BGI's enrollment has been growing along with its reputation.

The mission of Bainbridge Graduate School is to prepare students from diverse backgrounds to build enterprises that are financially successful, socially responsible and environmentally sustainable.

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Bainbridge Graduate Institute

Bainbridge Graduate Institute

BGI was born when co-Founder and President, Gifford Pinchot, a renowned business consultant, realized the nation's graduate business schools were churning out one-dimensional MBA graduates with solid short-term profit-maximization skills, but lacking a deep understanding of how to integrate social and environmental issues into business decisions.

The Institute's pioneering MBA and certificate programs prepare a diverse group of leaders to build enterprises that are economically successful, socially responsible and environmentally sustainable. The innovative curriculum preserves the rigor of a traditional MBA program, while infusing sustainability - including both environmental and social responsibility - throughout every course.

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