Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis and Fudan University announce appointment of managing director of joint MBA program in Shanghai, China 

By Scanews staff

	A managing director has been named for a joint Executive MBA program offered by the John M. Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis and Fudan University in Shanghai, China. Olin School of Business Dean Stuart Greenbaum announced in early November 2002 that Michael J. Smith, who holds an Olin MBA, has been named to lead the program in China. The EMBA program partnership was launched in Shanghai earlier this year. 

	Smith joins the Olin School of Business from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) where he served since 1998 as a management consultant in the firm's strategic change practice. He led strategy and supply chain related projects across industries in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Europe. Smith successfully led client teams that executed significant cost reduction strategies. 

	Prior to PWC, Smith worked as a territory manager in technical sales and business development for Exxon Company, U.S.A., managing $6 million in distributor accounts across a five-state territory. 

	Smith's Fortune 500 consulting experience includes engagements with B.F. Goodrich, 
Exide Technologies, Johnson Controls, Novartis, Monsanto, Texaco Corporation, Textron, and Thompson Consumer Electronics, among others. 

	In announcing Smith's appointment, Olin Dean Stuart Greenbaum noted that the school conducted an exhaustive search to fill the position. "We interviewed more than ten candidates and studied the credentials of many more," said Greenbaum. "I feel fortunate in attracting such an exemplary candidate to assume this very important position for our strategic partnership with Fudan University in China." 
	
	Classes began last April for the first class in the 18-month Olin-Fudan EMBA program. The initial class was oversubscribed and began with 74 fast-track executives hailing from more than 50 of the world's leading multinationals. The class also included a strong representation from leading Chinese state-owned enterprises as well. 

	A unique attribute of the collaborative EMBA program is that the courses are team taught in English by an Olin faculty member in collaboration with a Fudan colleague. Seventeen months of classes in Shanghai are followed by a two-week capstone experience, including graduation in St. Louis.