IDC forging relations with Wharton School [pg. 18]

By SHARON WROBEL
Israeli business students will be able to get exposure to one of the world's leading business schools through a new exchange program with the renowned Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The Wharton School will launch the exchange program together with the Arison School of Business at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya. "This cooperation will allow IDC's students to study with the best students in the undergraduate program in business administration at the Wharton School," Prof. Elazar Berkovitch, Dean of the Arison School of Business, told The Jerusalem Post. "For the Wharton students, studying at IDC Herzliya will provide the opportunity to become acquainted with and form relationships with Israel and Israelis." The program will offer undergraduate students at the Arison School the opportunity to spend a full semester in the US taking courses at Wharton, whose undergraduate and MBA programs have been ranked among the world's best business education programs for the last decade. Among its graduates are the investor guru Warren Buffett, James L. Vincent, former chairman and CEO of Biogen, and Donald Trump, president and chief executive officer of Trump Hotels. "In addition to the intellectual benefits of study abroad, it is our hope that participants will expand their professional networks through lasting friendships," said Barbara E. Kahn, vice dean and director of the Undergraduate Division at the Wharton School. Prof. Yoram (Jerry) Wind, the Lauder Professor of Marketing at Wharton and one of the founders of IDC Herzliya, who initiated the program, said that the time the Wharton students will spend at the IDC Herzliya will allow them to become acquainted with Israel's achievements in the fields of science and technology, as well as its efforts to cope with security and economic challenges. Wharton students who come to IDC Herzliya for a full year will be able to participate in its Zell Entrepreneurship Program for outstanding students, combining their business studies with work experience. "We hope that we will be able to attract any number between five and 20 Wharton students to Israel," said Berkovitch.