The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School graduated its sixth class of OneMBA®, the global executive MBA program, on June 13, 2009.

Executives began their studies in the innovative program in Washington, D.C., in September 2007, with students from UNC’s four partner schools:

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

The UNC executives came from California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C. to study in both the Washington, D.C. area and Chapel Hill for the "local" portion of the program. The class of 38 represents the largest UNC contingent in the OneMBA class since the program was established in 2002.

They worked with their worldwide class from the four partner schools during global residencies—in The Netherlands, Turkey, Mexico, Brazil, India, China, Hong Kong and the United States. They also worked together and gained practical experience on global virtual teaming, which is a significant component of OneMBA.

In May, the entire OneMBA class convened for its fourth global residency in Asia and celebrated of the completion of their global studies together. They value the enduring business connections, networks and friendships they have established with their classmates around the globe.

"They have completed an exciting journey," said Peter Brews, associate dean of OneMBA at UNC Kenan-Flagler, "and are uniquely prepared for the rigors of global management. By traveling the world, they have not only learned about the vast opportunities now appearing in fast growing emerging economies. More importantly, they have been continuously challenged to review and revise their opinions on American competitiveness, and the changes American business must urgently make to remain competitive."

Companies represented by the graduating class include 3M Health Information Systems; Accenture; AES; America's Health Insurance Plans; AOL; CGI Federal; Chevron Corporation; Cisco Systems Inc.; Computer Systems Center Incorporated; Cordis Corporation - Johnson & Johnson; Genworth Financial; Husky Injection Molding; IBM Corporation; IDS Scheer; Intel Corporation; Morgan Stanley; NII Holdings, Inc.; Nimbus Partners, Inc.; Office Depot, Inc.; Outlast Technologies, Inc.; The RiskMetrics Group; Ryerson, Inc.; Sallie Mae; SRA International, Inc.; Tekelec; Union Pacific Railroad; and the U.S. Navy.

BB&T Corporation chairman John A. Allison gave the keynote address on key aspects of successful leadership. Graduates awarded the excellence in teaching award to Sridhar Balasubramanian, the Roy & Alice H. Richards Bicentennial Scholar and associate professor of marketing at UNC Kenan-Flagler.

For more information about OneMBA, visit www.onemba.org