Industry

Making It Work

The true test of a digitally oriented business education isn’t how well students do an exam — it’s their long-term career success and their ability to constantly adapt and reinvent themselves to stay relevant. It’s why classes can’t just showcase the latest and greatest, because even the most useful tools have limited shelf life. Instead, students must be challenged to think critically about technology and its role in solving problems. What is it good for? What are its weaknesses? What are the regulatory or privacy concerns surrounding a potential technology deployment? And, does this tool demonstrate actual value, or is it not worth the organizational learning curve of introducing something new?

At Stevens, the results speak for themselves. In U.S. News' annual rankings of the best business schools, Stevens gets top marks from recruiters, who prize graduates for their ability to add value from day one, while helping the organization navigate the challenges of the digital age throughout their careers. Classes in areas like machine learning and artificial intelligence prepare students to embrace these challenges early and cultivate the right perspective on their role in the workplace.

A true indication of the school’s success in collaborating with industry is the success of our corporate degree or certificate programs. The professional approach, the short time-to-market, the customization of the offerings, the richness of the programs and materials, and the personal attention have contributed to having world-class companies like AstraZeneca, ExxonMobil, JPMorgan Chase, Pfizer, Verizon, UBS and others come to the Stevens School of Business in order to educate their workforce in the latest developments in analytics, finance, operations and leadership.

Pam P. ChengSPOTLIGHT:
Pam Cheng, '92, '95
Executive Vice President, AstraZeneca


Stevens doesn’t just bring industry into the classroom, it also brings the classroom to industry. When Pam wanted to introduce a program at AstraZeneca, she knew she needed something custom to meet her company’s unique needs. “I wasn’t interested in an off-the-shelf program for our professionals, and Stevens made it very specific for us,” she says. The School of Business’ “agility and flexibility” led to the creation of an Operational Excellence certificate for AstraZeneca, which had its first cohort complete the program in September 2021. “This program is such a great example of how we’re bringing lifelong learning to our strategy.”