The First Global Forum

Case Western Reserve University is a private institution that was founded in 1826. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 5,433 (fall 2020), its setting is urban, and the campus size is 267 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Case Western Reserve University's ranking in the 2022 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, #42. Its tuition and fees are $54,020.

Case Western Reserve University is known for its world class research, but with more than 200 student organizations, there are plenty of opportunities to get involved outside the classroom, too. The Case Western Spartans varsity teams compete in the Division III University Athletic Association. The Greek system, which stresses a commitment to on-campus and community service, involves about one third of students. The campus is located about 20 minutes from downtown Cleveland, where students have free access to a handful of downtown museums like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Great Lakes Science Center. On campus, freshmen live in one of four themed residential communities, which are called Cedar, Juniper, Magnolia and Mistletoe. All students are invited to the annual SpringFest, a collection of music, carnival games and activities that is the largest student-run event on campus.

Case Western Reserve University boasts a broad range of top-rated specialty graduate programs, like its health law curriculum at the School of Law. The university also has renowned offerings in biomedical engineering at the School of Engineering and nonprofit management at the Weatherhead School of Management. In addition to its suburban campus, the school owns University Farm, a 400-acre plot of land about 10 miles from campus where students research and take courses in biology, ecology and art. Notable alumni include former U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich and Craig Newmark, creator and namesake of Web site Craigslist.

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Georg Kell is Chairman of  the Board of Arabesque, a technology company that uses AI and big data to assess sustainability performance relevant for investment analysis and decision making.

He is also Co-Chair of the DWS ESG Advisory Board and Speaker of the Volkswagen Sustainability Council.

Georg Kell is the founding Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative with over 9,000 corporate signatories in more than 160 countries.

He helped to establish the Global Compact as the foremost platform for the development, implementation and disclosure of responsible and sustainable corporate policies and practices. In a career of more than 25 years at the United Nations, he also oversaw the conception and launch of the Global Compact’s sister initiatives, on investment, the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), and on education, the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), together with the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative (SSE).

Georg Kell started his career as a research fellow in engineering at the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology and Innovation in Berlin. He then worked as a financial analyst in various countries in Africa and Asia before joining the United Nations in 1987. A native of Germany, Georg holds advanced degrees in economics and engineering from the Technical University of Berlin.

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Ken G. Smith is professor emeritus and formerly held the Dean’s Chair in Strategic Management, Smith School of Business.  He is well known for his research in the areas of competition, competitive advantage, and strategic decision-making. Many of his articles have been published in leading scholarly journals, such as the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Administrative Science Quarterly, Management Science, Organization Science, and the Strategic Management Journal. He has also co-authored two books: The Dynamics of Competitive Strategy (Sage Publishing, 1992); and Strategy as Action: Competitive Dynamics and Competitive Advantage (Oxford Publishing, 2005) and co-edited the International Handbook of Organizational Teamwork and Cooperative Working (Wiley & Sons, 2003), and Great Minds in Management (Oxford Publishing, 2005).

Smith's research has won a number of awards, including the Best Paper Award from the Academy of Management Journal in 1999, Best Published Paper Award from the Organizational Behavior Division of the Academy of Management in 2001, and the Best Paper Award from the Journal of Management in 2003. In 1991, Ken served as a Fulbright Fellow in Strategic Management at the University of Limerick, Plassey, Ireland, he was Visiting Professor of Strategy in Spring 2000 at INSEAD, France and was Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College, spring 2007.

Ken is a three-time winner of the Krowe Award for outstanding teaching from the Smith School of Business,  was granted the University of Maryland Distinguished Scholar Teacher Award in 1996, and in 2011 won the Distinguished Educator Award from the Academy of Management. A former entrepreneur, Ken was editor of the Academy of Management Review from 1996-1999, elected a fellow of the Academy of Management in 1998 and from 2006-2007 served as President of the Academy of Management.  He was also elected fellow to the Strategic Management Society in 2006.   Ken currently lives with his wife Laurie in Wakefield, RI.

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At the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, future leaders are built for the advancement of business and society through innovative curriculum that infuses business with analytics, technology and design thinking. Learn concepts from world-class faculty with industry experience and gain the skills to be competitive for in-demand positions upon graduation.

The Weatherhead School of Management proudly embraces a student-centered culture of excellence, promoting collaboration, inclusion and diversity.  The Weatherhead School of Management is a place where innovation, entrepreneurship and critical thinking come together to inspire big ideas and take careers to the next level. More than 1,400 students study in 17 graduate and seven undergraduate programs. Weatherhead is home to business concepts taught and practiced around the world. Groundbreaking principles were developed here by our faculty that shape the way people around the world lead and manage their companies including Appreciative Inquiry, Emotional Intelligence, Flourishing Enterprise, Intentional Change Theory and Manage by Designing.

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The Fowler Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit exists to create a world where business can prosper, human beings can flourish and nature can thrive. The Fowler Center was established in 2009, with the timely and generous gift of Chuck and Char Fowler. Originally named the Fowler Center for Sustainable Value, the donation launched the inquiry into Business as an Agent of World Benefit initiative, started in 2002, to a new level of priority, scale, and scope as an interdisciplinary center of excellence. The Fowler Center's aim is clear: to build on and leverage the legacy and to create the finest research, education, and applied center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit in the world.

The Weatherhead School of Management proudly embraces a student-centered culture of excellence, promoting collaboration, inclusion and diversity.  The Weatherhead School of Management is a place where innovation, entrepreneurship and critical thinking come together to inspire big ideas and take careers to the next level. More than 1,400 students study in 17 graduate and seven undergraduate programs. Weatherhead is home to business concepts taught and practiced around the world. Groundbreaking principles were developed here by our faculty that shape the way people around the world lead and manage their companies including Appreciative Inquiry, Emotional Intelligence, Flourishing Enterprise, Intentional Change Theory and Manage by Designing.