I had an opportunity to spend a very enjoyable day at Eastern Michigan University recently. David E. Mielke, Dean of EMU’s College of Business, invited me to speak at a Dean’s Breakfast which he hosts periodically for students, faculty and alumni, and later in the day on Friday, April 11, I was the keynote speaker at the business school’s 59th Annual Honors Banquet.

I first became acquainted with EMU’s College of Business several years ago when I spoke to a class at Tianjin University of Commerce, taught by Dr. Mary Vielhaber and Dr. Diana Wong, two EMU professors. Mary and Diana were using a case that had been written about ASIMCO’s program of developing local management and thought it would add color to have someone from the company give the class a first-hand account. They called over to ASIMCO to see who might be willing to make the two-hour-plus trip from Beijing to Tianjin, and were somewhat surprised when I showed up with several of my young managers in tow.

Given the management gap in China, I do all that I can to support classes like the one that Mary and Diana were teaching and programs that provide for an exchange of information among universities and students in China, the United States, Europe and other parts of the world. I just think it’s good for everyone on both sides of the ocean to have more of these kinds of exchanges. Besides, several young managers had recently joined us, and I thought they would benefit from sitting in on the class, hearing me speak about ASIMCO, and most importantly, hearing the questions and the reactions of the students.

Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised to hear what interesting things EMU is doing in China. EMU has had a partner relationship with Tianjin University of Commerce for four years where it runs an 18-month program providing a Master’s of Science degree in Human Resources and Organizational Development. Each course involves two weeks of intensive classes in Tianjin taught by EMU professors, and six weeks online. Every year, 20 to 25 students participate in the program.

Eastern Michigan University is located in Ypsilanti, Michigan, just minutes from the Detroit airport in one direction, and minutes from Ann Arbor in the other. EMU’s College of Business has 2,600 undergrads and 850 graduate students.

What I found most interesting about EMU’s College of Business is the tremendous diversity of its students. The graduate program includes a high percentage of students who are working full-time and taking graduate courses at the same time. In both programs, approximately 30 percent of the students are international and come from all over the world including Europe, India, Saudi Arabia and China.

At the reception before the Honors banquet, the first three adults I spoke to were graduate students themselves, not the parents of graduate students as I had assumed. All three either had full-time jobs or had returned to school to continue their education after the kids were grown. I also met a number of Chinese students. In fact, 30 to 40 of the undergraduates and 30 to 40 of the graduate students at EMU’s College of Business are Chinese.

In March 2007, EMU entered into a very exciting program with the Macau University of Science and Technology whereby students spend two years at Macau University, two years at EMU and earn a degree from EMU. In the fall of last year, the first six undergraduates from Macau were on campus. This fall, another 26 will arrive, bringing the number of students in the program to 32.

At the Dean’s Breakfast in the morning, I talked about how I came to China, the importance of local management, China’s different cost perspective and the development of the local market. Nathan Bomey of the Ann Arbor Business Review interviewed me in advance of the event and reported on it afterwards.

The Honors Banquet was a special treat. Approximately 200 graduate and undergraduate students were honored, and they were there in force, along with their mothers and fathers, husbands, wives and significant others. In all, over 400 people turned out for the Friday night reception and dinner at the EMU Student Center Ballroom. I gave my keynote where I stressed the value and importance of hard work, and described to the students how much the world had changed since I received my MBA, and how much more it will change in the course of their careers. In a state that has suffered more than most from the forces of globalization, it was very encouraging to look out over the audience and see so many students confidently looking ahead to the future.

In the final moments of the banquet, a dozen large vases of yellow roses were brought on stage, and Dean Mielke explained a tradition that he had started three years ago. Each Honor student was asked to take one rose and give it to the person who had had the greatest influence on them. What a great way to end the evening!

In a world that is changing as rapidly as ours, it is inspiring to see what far sighted educators like Dean Mielke are doing to embrace globalization and prepare their students for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Apart from what is being taught in the classroom, the diversity which Dean Mielke has created on campus by developing programs around the world in China, India and the Middle East is an education unto itself.

My hat is off to Dean Mielke and EMU!