The Huntsman Program in International Studies & Business, formerly known as the IS&B Program, is a four-year undergraduate course of study, which integrates business education, advanced language training and a liberal arts education at the University of Pennsylvania. It one of four joint-degree programs at Penn. Huntsman graduates earn two degrees: a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from the School of Arts and Sciences and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School .
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The Program's goal is to enable students to take advantage of "a professional education and an understanding of the political, economic and cultural complexities in the global economy of the 21st century", thereby earning the ability to seize global opportunities and "work effectively anywhere in the world". Students are required to learn the cultural, political, and social institutions" of an area of the world in which their target language is spoken.
The Huntsman Student Advisory Board serves as an instrument for greater student participation in shaping the program and as a forum for students to voice their opinions and raise issues. The Board works to build a sense of community with events such as pizza parties, coffee hours, trivia nights, karaoke and trips to Phillies games. It also holds regular panel discussions on subjects such as study abroad, how to fulfill requirements, internships and recruiting.
The Board consists of twelve members, four of whom are selected by the existing Board members and eight of whom are elected by their peers.
All Huntsman freshmen live in a residential program on campus in the third floor of King's Court College House at 3465 Sansom Street in the University of Pennsylvania, after which they are free to compete for any form of accommodation they wish with the rest of the college population.
The Huntsman Program has its own building located in the heart of Penn's campus at 3732 Locust Walk, Philadelphia PA 19104-6231 (contact info). In addition to the administrative offices, the office houses a Student Lounge, Computer Lab, Classroom, and Conference Room. Students enjoy meeting with friends, studying and reading international newspapers and magazines in the student lounge. The computer lab is networked to the Wharton computer labs; it is also equipped with language software. Students can frequently be found working together on group projects in the lab. Both the classroom and conference room can be reserved for meetings. The classroom is the venue for the Huntsman-only Comparative Capitalist Systems class.
The Office is also the site of the Program’s many special events and luncheons.
Throughout the academic year, the Huntsman Program invites special speakers from the world of academia, industry and government to address program participants and the University community at large. Past speakers have included the governors of Utah and Hawaii, the Consul General of France and the Deputy Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. The CEOs of major corporations, renowned professors and Program alumni have also been invited to speak. Recently, the Huntsman Program hosted a talk by Mr. Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank Group.
The Huntsman Advisory Board currently consists of 20 senior level professionals (CEO's, MD's, and Presidents), primarily from the business community, who provide advice and assistance to the Program. Board members have global perspectives, with current members coming from Asia, Canada, Europe, Latin America and the United States. They are committed to the success of the Program and value the unique education that it provides. Board members include Padraic Fallon, Chairman, Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC, David Huntsman, Vice President, Huntsman Corporation, John Colas, Managing Director, Mercer Oliver Wyman, and John Reinsberg, Deputy Chairman, Lazard Asset Management LLC.
Presently, two faculty directors are charged with the responsibility for the Program and serve as the primary advisors for students: Lance Donaldson-Evans and Janice R. Bellace. Professor Donaldson-Evans assumed the role in 2006, replacing noted Arabic scholar Roger Allen, who had been College faculty director of the Program since its inception.
A small administrative staff coordinates all of the activities of the Huntsman Program and advises students about options they have in the Program: Inge Herman, Executive Director, and Jose Marrero, Associate Director.[1]
By the end of the course, students will have taken:
International Studies (IS) Major (14 courses)
Business (B) Major (14 courses)
College of Arts and Sciences (SAS) Requirements (until class of '09, 10 courses)
for a total of 38 Course Units.
College of Arts and Sciences (SAS) (class of '10 onward, 12 courses) The College's new curriculum takes effect starting with the Class of 2010.
New Requirement: "Foundational Approaches"
New Requirement: "Sector Requirement" Full courselists have recently been provided: (1 course from each sector is required)
Although a 40-course curriculum may at first appear excessively rigorous, many courses are offered which satisfy several of the program's requirements at once.
As an essential part of the Program, while fulfilling the 40 c.u. curriculum, Huntsman students study abroad for a minimum of one semester (typically during the junior year) at another university in the area of the world in which their target language is spoken.
The semester abroad is an immersion experience designed to develop a student's understanding of a country's culture, its political and social institutions. Huntsman students learn how to live, study, and possibly even work in an environment that is different from their prior experience; language skills will automatically be strengthened by such exposure. When they study abroad, Huntsman students take standard courses with regular university students, live with families or in student dormitories, take a course load similar to that at Penn, and do not attend "island" programs designed for foreign students.
All grades earned abroad are converted into Penn grades and are factored into a student's grade point average. Courses taken abroad may also fulfill major requirements. Typically, Arts & Letters, History & Tradition, and Area Studies components of the CGS requirements are the easiest to fulfill while abroad.
Admission to the Huntsman Program is competitive, with a target class size of approximately 40 students (it was 25 for '98 and '99). Recent classes have been around 50 students. Detailed admissions statistics are presently unavailable (Please see Penn's admissions statistics for a rough guide), though the program's admissions rate is lower than the University average. Based on Huntsman alumni figures, approximately half the class are international students. For the Class of 2011, the program yielded 87 percent of admitted students.
Prospective students apply to the Huntsman Program as part of their application to Penn (Transfer students are not accepted). There is a separate section[2] of the Penn application that must be completed by students who want to be considered for the program. Applicants are required to:
No interviews are required, although interviews are offered and can help.
Applicants are also encouraged to apply Early Decision; a binding commitment which has generally been well rewarded in the Admissions Decisions.
Students are encouraged to take the SAT II in their particular language of specialization if possible as well as the SAT II: MATH II-C. AP credit in Math and other subjects are also bonuses. The Huntsman Program has developed its own language tests for Arabic, Hindi and Russian. Arrangements are made for qualified applicants to take these tests.
Applicants to the Huntsman Program must have outstanding verbal and mathematical academic credentials and intermediate-level proficiency in their target foreign language. They are expected to have academic and extracurricular activities indicating an international awareness as well as leadership skills and the ability to work independently. Students are encouraged to apply early decision provided all required testing can be completed in time.
1992 - Janice R. Bellace, Wharton's undergraduate dean at the time, conceived of a unique undergraduate joint degree program, and shepherded what became the Huntsman Program through the SAS and Wharton faculty approval process. She stepped down as undergraduate dean in June 1994 to become Wharton's deputy dean and chief academic officer [3], just before the first "International Studies and Business Program" freshmen matriculated in Fall 1994.
1997 - Jon Huntsman, Sr. gave $10 million to endow the Huntsman Program in International Studies & Business (he then followed up with a $40 million gift a year later)[4].
1998 - The first 22 Huntsman Program students graduated.
The number of Huntsman alumni is still relatively small. The first class graduated in May 1998. There are now 261 Huntsman alumni. For a fully alphabetized list regardless of year, including some email contacts, please see the program's official alumni directory.
Huntsman graduates have taken their education to diverse fields:
Huntsman alumni take the global exposure afforded by the Program to careers around the world. Huntsman alumni can be found pursuing opportunities across the globe.