Woodside's sponsorship of the UWA Business School is gaining traction. The recent appointment of internationally-renowned Professor, David Day as the Woodside Professor in Leadership and Management is a key element in the joint strategy to invest in improving the business and commercial skills of university graduates as well as currently employed managers and executives.

Building a lifelong learning relationship with our Alumni is vital to the sustainability of the Business School, and its relevance to industry.  As the University strives to achieve international excellence, the Business School is also focused on fostering leadership, recognising accomplishments and providing networking opportunities among its Alumni. 

The University of Western Australia was founded on a culture of philanthropy, of giving back to the community and investing in the future to foster the highest possible educational standards.  For some graduates, this translates into philanthropic acts directed to the university that helped shape their success.

The Business School is currently planning many "not to be missed" events for the remainder of the year and into 2009.  These include:

• Conference of the Australian Institute of Transport Research - December 10 - 12, 2008
• Breakfast by the Bay with Kunal Basu - February 25, 2009
  

Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS)
The PASS program continues to be very popular with students, attracting hundreds of enrolments in the five units offered in semester 2.

Singapore Presentation Ceremony
Over 200 guests and 96 students attended the presentation ceremony held at the NTUC Business Center in Singapore, including 28 Bachelor of Commerce, 37 MBA, 2 DBA and 29 Bachelor of Science students.

To date, 2008 has been a year of highlights for the UWA Business School with many achievements contributing towards our goal of being internationally focused on attracting the best students, attracting and retaining the best staff and building strong links with the business community.

The Teaching and Learning (T&L) Committee continues its good work in improving the quality of the student experience at the Business School.  A summary of these initiatives are included.

The Business School hosted many high profile events in the first half of the year including the Women in Management Dinner with Leanne Preston, CEO Wild Child, as well as public lectures presented by Professor Vernon Smith, 2008 Alcoa Visiting Professor,  Robert Elstone, Managing Director and CEO of the Australian Stock Exchange, Professor Steven Zeff, the Herbert S Autrey Professor of Accounting at Rice University in Houston, and Professor Dan Druckman, the Vernon M and Minnie I Lynch Professor of Conflict Resolution at the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University.   The Mining and Energy Seminar held in June attracted a high calibre of people from around Australia.