Any time the international representation of the school is improved, it's not just current students who benefit. Eppen said going global in the truest sense of the word is the only way to remain on top. As competition evolves, there will be a relatively small set of schools that will be recognized around the world, that will achieve that level of brand equity. If we want to continue to attract the best students and faculty, we have to be one of those schools. And we can't achieve that by sitting securely here in Chicago.
Alumni apparently share such sentiments.
More than one thousand alumni are located in the Asia-Pacific region, including two hundred in Singapore. Singapore-based Wing Tai Holdings Ltd. Cheng's company heads the consortium that owns the House of Tan Yeok Nee, the historic building that will house the school, and Cheng arranged the school's use of the building. Jack and Susy Wadsworth, through their W.L.S. Spencer Foundation, will help fund the cost of outfitting the classrooms. This is not just another business school. Given the questions that are currently being raised about the role of capital markets in the continuing development of Asian and world economies, the timing could not be better for Chicago to spread its wings in Asia.