Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business’ new Center on Business Strategies for Sustainability recently received a $300,000 grant from the Kendeda Fund. This follows a $750,000, three-year grant received earlier this year from the Ray C. Anderson Foundation to start the Center.
Through its focus on sustainable business practices, which aim to minimize the negative impact on the environment and society, the center plans to:
- Generate and disseminate high-impact research in business strategies and innovation for sustainability.
- Teach students – tomorrow's engineers, managers, entrepreneurs, and CEOs – how to integrate cutting-edge business principles, science, and technology to further sustainability objectives throughout their careers.
- Partner effectively with the industry to accelerate the development and adoption of best practices concerning sustainable business.
A spokesperson for The Kendeda Fund, which seeks to advance values that sustain the planet, saw in the Center an opportunity to expand the cross-section of business and sustainability. “Green must generate green ($) to achieve mass adoption,” says the Fund spokesperson. “Hopefully, Georgia Tech will train tomorrow’s business leaders to incorporate green priorities into their corporate endeavors. If successful, the Georgia Tech model will be adopted by other schools, and become the norm in business and environmental education.”
Georgia Tech Scheller College Dean Steve Salbu points out that the College “has numerous faculty actively engaged in this area, rivaling many top business schools.”
He adds: “Our College's strong focus on the management of technology, innovation, and commercialization is highly relevant to the adoption and management of green tech. The opportunity to leverage these core strengths for high-visibility, high-impact leadership in sustainable business research and education has never been greater, and I am very excited by the potential created with the founding of the Center on Business Strategies for Sustainability.”
Operations Management Professor and Brady Family Chair Beril Toktay, who spearheaded the effort to win the grant, says, “Interest in sustainability has grown tremendously in both the business world and academia. The Scheller College has strong faculty in different areas, from operations and finance to business ethics and marketing, addressing various aspects of sustainability, including socially responsible investing, environmental economics, and sustainable operations. We plan to leverage this expertise through the new center and have high impact at Georgia Tech and beyond by focusing on the student experience and business practice.”