Welcome!  As a relative newcomer to the Drucker School, I have experienced what you and others will likely discover about this remarkable community. There is warmth, an intimacy, a concern for the individual, and a passionate commitment to progress here at Drucker that is different. Here, you will encounter tenured, globally-respected faculty, with scores of publications to their credit, who care equally about teaching and learning from their students. Here, you will experience a virtual global community of learners, at various stages in their careers, which will help you form an international network that will last a lifetime. Here at Drucker, you will be treated with respect, as an individual, and here you will acquire not only skills and competencies and analytical insights, but also an approach to management that places importance on values, intuition, compassion and a commitment to making a difference.

These are the attributes of a truly unique graduate school of management. If you haven’t visited us, I strongly encourage you to do so, because it’s hard to imagine or describe our setting here in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. Drucker is housed in a lovely, modern building in a charming city of “trees and PhDs,” only 35 miles from downtown LA. We are part of the only graduate-only university of our kind in America, and we are surrounded by our partner institutions that form the cluster of educational excellence called the Claremont Consortium: Pomona, Pitzer, Harvey Mudd, Claremont McKenna, Scripps and Keck Graduate Institute. Outside our doors is one of the most diverse, economically dynamic and arguably the most interesting regions in the world. The weather is beautiful, beaches and skiing are less than an hour away, and our setting is highly conducive to serious learning and relaxed reflection.

We call ourselves an “M" school and an "L” school, not just a “B” school, because we are committed to training effective managers and ethical leaders for not only business, but also for government and the nonprofit sector. We will equip you with the skills to succeed in business, to be sure, and we will help you find a great job and a meaningful career. Our focus on management, generally, and on the needs of all sectors of society, reflects the wisdom of Peter Drucker, considered the father of modern management. Peter taught that management is an art as well as a science, that people are as important as finances, and that business can only thrive in a healthy society. At Drucker, we embrace Peter’s wisdom and put it to practice.

Please take the time to explore our philosophy, our programs and our people. You will be surprised by the depth of our talent. For a small school we have a big league faculty in terms of intellectual contributions. We offer more courses across more disciplines and a broader transdisciplinary approach to management than you will find anywhere in the world. And only at Drucker will you enter the MBA and EMBA with a gateway course called “The Drucker Difference” taught by all of us on the core faculty.

I am extremely proud to serve as the dean of this wonderful institution. We are growing, we are innovating, and we are continuing to pioneer a new path in the field of management education and applied research. At a time when business, government and society are so in need of effective management and ethical leadership, the Drucker School is more relevant and our graduates are in greater demand than ever before.

I think you will discover that Drucker is the right school at the right place at the right time.

Best wishes,

Ira A. Jackson
Dean and Professor of Management
Drucker School of Management
Claremont Graduate University