BYU Awarded Grant for International Business Training

PROVO, Utah – Oct 22, 2014 – The U.S. Department of Education awarded Brigham Young University a four-year grant of more than $1.1 million to continue its work as a Center for International Business Education and Research. The CIBER grant allows BYU to work with students, faculty, the community and other CIBER schools to increase global awareness of international business.

“We feel very privileged to have the grant renewed,” says Bruce Money, director of the Kay and Yvonne Whitmore Global Management Center. “It shows that we are an important player in international business and that BYU has distinctive strengths and capabilities not found in other schools.”

BYU was selected as one of 17 schools to receive the grant, down from 35 schools in the last grant cycle. BYU has been a CIBER school since 1990, and the funds provided by the grant have been essential in shaping the GMC and BYU’s global business mindset. The grant will continue to contribute to the 10 business study abroad programs currently offered, as well as introduce new programs to Ghana and Jordan along with new global supply chain focused experience.

Jonathon Wood, GMC associate director, says the grant is a vote of confidence from the government, recognizing the worth of BYU’s current and future international efforts.

“We are excited for the opportunity to continue building our network with other universities and to use this grant to expand our programs to reach more people,” Wood says.

In addition to study abroad programs, the grant also sponsors exchange programs to nine top business school around the world, language case competitions where students can prove both their understanding of business concepts as well as language, outreach programs to the community and other colleges, and faculty research. All these programs are designed to train the BYU community to be global leaders.

“The grant allows students and faculty to be hands-on participants in the global economy,” Money says. “When students have that chance, transformational things happen.”

The Marriott School is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. The school has nationally recognized programs in accounting, business management, entrepreneurship, finance, information systems and public management. The school’s mission is to prepare men and women of faith, character and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the Marriott School’s graduate and undergraduate programs.