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Simmons Creates Alliance with Premier Business School in India

BOSTON (May 22, 2007) — Students at the Simmons School of Management in Boston will be able to study at India's premier business school and gain valuable global business experience under a new partnership between Simmons and the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta.

The partnership is designed to give faculty and women MBA candidates at both schools vital international business experience while encouraging more women to engage in entrepreneurial activity and advance into positions of leadership. The agreement also fosters faculty collaborations and better understanding of cultural differences between the U.S. and India to create improved business relationships.

Officials at both schools are working on developing advisory services for multinational businesses with U.S. and India operations. The alliance is part of Simmons' continuing efforts to partner with business schools in India and expand the school's global offerings.

The Simmons School of Management offers the only MBA program in the U.S. designed specifically for women, and operates an entrepreneurship program ranked among the top 25 in the U.S. by Entrepreneur magazine. Officials at the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, one of the oldest and most prestigious business schools in India, want to use the alliance to attract more women MBA candidates in India and help them advance their careers. Simmons School of Management students will be able to study in India and place valuable, hands-on international experience on their resumes. Faculty may engage in joint research and teaching projects, as well as consulting opportunities.

"My fundamental belief is that to be a successful leader or manager in organizations today, you need cross-cultural competencies and global experience," said Simmons School of Management Dean Deborah Merrill-Sands. "This partnership helps us give significant overseas experiences to our MBA students and it does the same for students at the Indian Institute of Management."
Shekhar Chaudhuri, director of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, said he was pleased the two schools have signed a memorandum of understanding that creates various academic activities to be undertaken collaboratively, including student and faculty exchanges, joint research and executive education programs.

"IIM Calcutta is a leading institute of management in India and the Asia—Pacific region, and the Simmons School of Management is a leading centre for innovative teaching, research and discourse on women, leadership and management. I believe that in the context of an increasingly global world economy, both institutions would gain tremendously from this collaboration," he said.

The Simmons School of Management is committed to advancing women of diverse backgrounds into leadership positions. Simmons College is a nationally recognized private university located in the heart of Boston.

The Indian Institute of Management Calcutta is a leading institute of management in India and the Asia-Pacific region. It was founded in 1961 as India's first national institute for post-graduate studies and research in management, in collaboration with the Alfred P. Sloan School of Management at MIT, the government of West Bengal, the Ford Foundation and the Indian business community. The Institute played a pioneering role in professionalizing Indian management through its post-graduate and doctoral training programs, executive training programs, and research and consulting activities.