Freeman Grant to Fund Annual China Trip for Students in UB Management Honors Program

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Freeman Foundation has awarded a $152,775 grant to the University at Buffalo School of Management to fund an annual educational trip to China for students enrolled in the school's Joseph T.J. Stewart Honors Program.

The 19 students currently in the program, all sophomore business students, will tour sites in Hong Kong and mainland China, Jan. 4-10, 2002. Their itinerary will include visits to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Chinese cultural sites and the Asian headquarters of HSBC and Rich Products.

Prior to their arrival in China, the students will participate in a seminar on China's business environment and culture.

"The Freeman grant is helping the School of Management offer one of the most dynamic business honors programs in the United States," says Lewis Mandell, dean of the UB School of Management. "The students are very excited about visiting China and learning about the country's gradual move toward capitalism. Our hope is that the trip will encourage their interest in international business."

The UB School of Management has a long history of educational innovation in Asia, notes Mandell, having established the first American MBA program in China in 1984, and currently operating two Executive MBA programs in Beijing and one in Singapore.

In addition to the China trip, as part of the Stewart Honors Program the students will visit New York City in September to tour Wall Street, the Federal Reserve Bank and the New York Stock Exchange, and will attend a Broadway play.

The honors program was established at the School of Management in 2000 through a $315,000 bequest from the estate of Joseph T.J. Stewart, a prominent area businessman, civic leader and philanthropist who passed away in 1999.

Forty-six students currently are enrolled in the honors program, which provides special academic programming to outstanding undergraduate business-administration students, with the goal of enhancing the students' understanding of the role of business in society.

The Freeman Foundation is based in Vermont and was established in 1992 to support greater understanding between Asia and the United States through the establishment of education programs and institutes.

The Freeman grant and the Stewart gift contribute to UB's $250 million campaign, one of the largest ever conducted by a public university in New York and New England. Funds raised will be used to enrich academic programs, support students ranging from undergraduates to post-doctoral students and to enhance university life.