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Mar 11, 1997

DePaul University And International Bank Of Asia Launch MBA Program

DePaul University and the International Bank of Asia (IBA) have signed an agreement to conduct a Master of Business Administration program for IBA staff in Hong Kong.

Faculty members from DePaul's Kellstadt Graduate School of Business began instruction the week of March 3 for the first class of 20 select individuals from various divisions of the bank. The program is the first in-house MBA program in Hong Kong offered by a bank to its staff, according to IBA. Students in the curriculum will take 16 courses over a two-year period to complete their MBA degrees.

The initiative is one of two Hong Kong MBA programs DePaul has announced in the past year. In December, the university announced plans to launch a 24-month, accelerated MBA program in marketing and financial strategy with coordination assistance from Dun and Bradstreet Information System's Hong Kong office. DePaul's current plan is to open this program in the fall.

"I am very pleased that an institution of DePaul's caliber is conducting this program at IBA," said Mike M. Murad, vice chairman and chief executive of International Bank of Asia. "I am a firm believer in these programs and know from personal experience how it will expand the talents of our staff and will increase their contribution to IBA."

"We are tremendously excited about our partnership with the bank," said Ronald J. Patten, dean of DePaul's College of Commerce, which includes the Kellstadt graduate school. "We have designed a rigorous course of study emphasizing marketing and finance which should equip the participants with skills to excel in a constantly changing marketplace."

Each course is a six-week module averaging 38 hours of class time with DePaul professors. The courses run the range from accounting and business economics to risk analysis, human resource management and applications of information technology. The program will be administered by Geoffrey Hirt, chairman of the department of finance at DePaul.

With 2,500 students, the Kellstadt School is the fifth largest graduate program accredited by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business. DePaul's part-time MBA program is ranked eighth in the United States in U.S. News and World Report's 1997 "America's Best Graduate Schools" guide.

International Bank of Asia is one of the leading retail banks in Hong Kong, with total assets of $3 billion in U.S. dollars. It operates through a network of 25 branches and delivers a wide range of financial services including multi-currency deposits, trade finance, residential mortgages, working capital loans, credit card services, China lending, equipment leasing, stock brokerage, unit trusts and insurance underwriting. It is a subsidiary of Arab Banking Corporation, headquartered in Bahrain and the premier bank of the Middle East. China Everbright Holdings Company Limited, a company reporting directly to the State Council of the People's Republic of China, owns 20 percent of the bank.