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Jason Chuang

A sustainable scene at the cafe in the basement of the Graduate School of Business (GSB). The GSB was recently ranked the most environmentally and socially sound business school in the nation.

Last year, students in the Graduate School of Business (GSB) spearheaded a drive to make the GSB CafÈ go green as part of their efforts to champion environmental and social causes.

This year, the GSB has been ranked number one in the biannual “Beyond Grey Pinstripes” ranking, which evaluates business school programs on whether they provide an environmentally and socially sound business education. The ranking, released on Oct. 10, was put out by the leadership think tank Aspen Institute. This is the second time the GSB has received top honors — in 2005, the last year the award was presented, Stanford also ranked first.

“Beyond Grey Pinstripes is a research survey and alternative ranking of business schools,” said Justin Goldbach, program manager of New York’s Aspen Institute Center for Business Education Program. “It spotlights innovative full-time MBA programs leading the way in the integration of issues concerning social and environmental stewardship in to the curriculum.”

According to the ranking, the percentage of business schools that require students to take a course focused on “business and society” issues has increased dramatically over the past five years, jumping from 34 percent in 2001 to 63 percent in 2007. Of the 111 surveyed schools, 35 offer a special concentration in social and environmental issues.

The evaluators considered numerous factors, such as the number of courses dealing with sustainability and social issues, the number of students enrolling in these courses, the depth of the course content and faculty research.

However, a high number of courses dealing with sustainability and social issues alone does not serve as evidence for growing interest in these issues, said Nancy McGaw, the deputy director of New York’s Aspen Institute Center for Business Education Program.

“In terms of the survey, we look at the number of courses that focus on the subject of sustainability,” she said. “But it is possible to see other evidence of this interest, for example, in the increasing number of events on campus that touch on issues related to sustainability.”

Evidence of this growing interest at Stanford was evident in the creation of the Center for Social Innovation in 2000. The Center is now a hub for students and faculty on campus, driving dialogue on how to equip students to deal with today’s social and environmental issues in business.

Kriss Deiglmeier, executive director of the Center, was pleased with the GSB’s top ranking.

“It’s an external confirmation of all the integration the GSB has done in the MBA curriculum,” she said. “We believe we are the leaders and the ranking confirmed it. The GSB not only offers the core courses but also robust elective opportunities for students to get real world exposure and a truly comprehensive educational experience.”

However, Deiglmeier was quick to add that Stanford’s high ranking is not the sole reason for her enthusiasm.

“I think it is a really positive sign that Stanford has been ranked number one,” she said. “But I think that the more important significance of this is that more schools and students are engaging in these crucial issues.”

The rest of the top 10 schools on the list are the University of Michigan, York University, UC-Berkeley, University of Notre Dame, Columbia University, Cornell University, Duquesne University, Yale University and Instituto de Empresa.