The 33 executives in the UNC contingent of the fourth global OneMBA® class celebrated the completion of their program at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School June 9, 2007, after having begun the innovative program together in Washington D.C., in fall 2005.

OneMBA participants from UNC Kenan-Flagler spent time in both Washington and Chapel Hill for the "local" portion of the program. They worked with their worldwide class from four other leading business schools (see below) via virtual teaming and through four global residencies in the United States; The Netherlands and Poland; Brazil and Mexico; and Shanghai and Hong Kong.

The students in the UNC contingent were the most diverse OneMBA class to date, including 25% women and 22% foreign nationals.

Graduates say the business connections and network they have established with their worldwide classmates have created friendships and professional bonds that will endure beyond their time in the program.

"The global perspective with the business background will prepare me for almost any career I set my sights on," said Shannan Chapman (OneMBA ’07). "I have also made valuable contacts and life-long friendships with students from partner schools around the world."

"With their deep understanding of the challenges facing global business today, we expect great things from our OneMBA alumni," said Peter Brews, associate dean of the OneMBA Program. "As a colleague in the Mexican cohort of OneMBA commented a few weeks before graduation: obtaining the degree is not the end but the beginning."

During the graduation ceremony, finance professor Paolo Fulghieri received the OneMBA 2007 Faculty Teaching Excellence Award, which was awarded by the students in the graduating class. Fulghieri teaches "Corporate Finance in a Global Environment" in the program.

For more information visit OneMBA online.

Executives in the OneMBA Program enroll at UNC Kenan-Flagler or at one of its OneMBA partners:

• The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Faculty of Business Administration, Hong Kong SAR, China
• Fundação Getulio Vargas, Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo (FGV-EAESP), Brazil
• The Monterrey Tech Graduate School of Business Administration and Leadership (EGADE-ITESM), Mexico
• Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam School of Management (RSM), The Netherlands