Rady School Top 15 in 15
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The Rady School of Management is approaching its 15th anniversary and since its founding in 2003, the school has reached many remarkable milestones. Through the generous support of the business community, the school has grown exponentially—offering new graduate and undergraduate programs, expanding the ranks of its world-renowned faculty, and constructing state-of-the-art facilities where students thrive. Most impressively, the school’s focus on entrepreneurship and innovation has led to numerous companies, founded by Rady School students and alumni, that are changing our world and significantly contributing to our economy. Here’s a look at the top 15 accomplishments the Rady School has achieved in its first 15 years.
- Over 150 operational startup companies have been started by Rady School alumni and students. These startups have revolutionized industries, led to breakthrough medical devices, drastically enhanced the lives of the visually impaired, improved personal wellness monitoring and have forever transformed our world for the better. Many of the startups are a product of the Rady School’s unique Lab to Market core sequence and accelerators.
- The Rady School is grown into an economic powerhouse, with alumni and student startups creating over a $6 billion dollars impact in the local, national and global economy in the last 15 years.
- Founded with the intention to provide quality business education to leaders in innovative industries, the Rady School has launched distinguished graduate programs to serve the needs of the business community, including the school’s flagship Full-Time MBA and FlexMBA programs, which are already recognized among the best.
- In addition to the MBA programs, three specialty graduate programs have been launched: a Master of Finance, a Master of Science in Business Analytics and a Master of Professional Accountancy.
- The school also has three robust undergraduate programs, a business minor, an accounting minor, and a entrepreneurship and innovation minor, all of which are among the most popular minors on the UC San Diego campus.
- Rady School faculty are recognized as leaders for the quality of their research. Over the past 15 years, the school’s faculty have been ranked number one in the U.S. for intellectual capital by Bloomberg Businessweek, 14th globally for faculty research by the Financial Times and 12th globally in student rating of teaching quality by The Economist.
- Since its inception, the school has received strong support from the business community. The school’s many supporters have been generous with their time and with gifts to support the mission of the school. Notable gifts include: a $100 million gift from Ernest and Evelyn Rady to fund strategic priorities and recruit faculty; a $4 million gift and endowed chair from Nobel Laureate and Rady School professor Harry Markowitz and his wife Barbara, a $30 million naming gift from Ernest and Evelyn Rady, and a $5 million gift from Carol and William Stensrud for program development and faculty recruitment.
- The Rady School has established five Centers of Excellence: the California Institute for Innovation and Development (CIID), the Beyster Institute, the Center for Business Analytics, the Center for Social Innovation and Impact, the Institute for Supply Excellence and Innovation the U.S. – Israel Center on Innovation and Economic Sustainability. Each of the school’s centers focuses on a different topic of importance and provides additional learning opportunities and experience for students.
- Launched in 2013, the StartR Accelerator at the Rady School is a non-profit program for Rady School students and alumni designed to provide entrepreneurs the tools needed to start and grow their businesses. The StartR program includes workshops, mentoring, advice and access to other resources for early-stage companies. At the conclusion of the program, teams present their pitches at Demo Day, attended by investors, industry experts and the San Diego community.
- The Rady School’s mystartupXX program is a one-of-its-kind accelerator that was created to increase and encourage diversity in entrepreneurship. Program participants take workshops on launching startups, team building, leadership, market assessment, consumer feedback, creating a value proposition, validating business models, and understanding financing strategies needed to launch the business. Each team works with a mentor and advisors who monitor and encourage their progress.
- The Rady Venture Fund, a student-assisted venture capital investment fund, was established to support the Rady School’s educational objectives in the areas of entrepreneurship, innovation and transfer of discoveries into the marketplace. Students screen investment leads, perform due diligence, make investment recommendations, and monitor portfolio companies. To date, the fund has invested in five early stage companies.
- The Rady School’s Center for Executive Development (CED) offers courses and certificates provide valuable learning experiences that meet the needs of executives and managers in the rapidly changing world of business. Popular CED courses include: leadership, team building, and interpersonal skills. Executive development faculty are industry experts, renowned researchers, engaging teachers and authors.
- The Rady School’s Ph.D. program began in 2009, attracting top doctoral candidates from around the globe. Rady School Ph.D. students have gone on to teach at top school across the U.S. and the globe.
- Two state-of-the-art buildings have been constructed to house the Rady School and provide a modern and technology-forward learning space. Otterson Hall opened in 2007 and Wells Fargo Hall Opened in 2012. Wells Fargo Hall has been LEED Gold certified for its sustainable practices.
- The Rady School earned accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International) in 2011. AACSB International is the premier business education accrediting body, with less than five percent of business schools worldwide achieving accreditation.
To learn more about the Rady School of Management, visit the Marshall website.
Rady School Invests in an Alumnus’ Company Cloudbeds
The Rady School of Management at the University of San Diego is down to invest through its Rady Venture Fund. Sometimes, the San Diego-based school even invests in companies founded by graduates—like Richard Castle.
The 2013 alum co-founded Cloudbeds, a cloud-based hotel management software, alongside Adam Harris in 2012. This is the first time Rady’s invested in a company started by a graduate, according to a press release. The investment was part of Cloudbed’s Series B $9 million fundraising, which investment firm PeakSpan Capital led. This new development will help the company become more competitive as it provides services to hotels, beds and breakfasts, and vacation rentals. It currently employs 109 people in 22 countries with offices in San Diego, São Paulo, and Dublin. Its software, however, is used in more than 120 countries.
Castle started the company while still at Rady. He took part in its FlexMBA program, and he says his experience at the school greatly influenced him—and helped him succeed with Cloudbeds. “I chose to come to the Rady School for my MBA because I was drawn to starting a company, and Rady has a strong focus on entrepreneurship,” he said in the press release.
He’s not the only Rady man at the company either: The hotel and tech company hired 2006 graduate Colin Slade as its VP of Customer Success, 2013 graduate Matthew Parry for Director of Marketing, and 2009 graduates Andre Sovgir and Marshall Knauff as product managers.
The Rady Venture Fund invests money in “educational opportunities and hands-on learning experiences for Rady MBAs and other UC San Diego graduate students,” per the press release. The fund invests just one to two investments a year, led through Venture Capital Management courses MGT496A and MGT496B. There, students get to learn about the investment process hands on.
“We’re thrilled to have Cloudbeds as part of our investment portfolio,” said Lada Rasochova, Rady Venture Fund Managing Director, in the press release. “With Cloudbeds, we are not only investing in a great company with solid fundamentals, we are also investing in UC San Diego and the greater San Diego startup community.”
