Mission and Direction

Mission Statement

We are an entrepreneurial learning community dedicated to the creation, application, and sharing of knowledge that places special emphasis on dynamic and global business environments.

Vision for the Future

While the Michael G. Foster School of Business at the University of Washington has long been recognized as one of the premier institutions in the nation, our long-term objective is to be nothing less than the "best public business school in the nation" for undergraduate, graduate and executive programs. 

We recognize that public universities have a somewhat different mission, as well different challenges in funding, than private universities, which is why we've chosen to measure ourselves against the nation's best publicly-funded research institutions.

Our goal to be the best is not about bragging rights or media rankings, it's about being the best at fulfilling our public mission to advance knowledge through research and to prepare young men and women to be the business leaders of tomorrow by providing them with a truly transformational learning experience.

To achieve our long-term vision for the Foster School, we are moving forward aggressively with the following initiatives:

• Building world-class facilities with a projected investment of $160 million.

• Adding to the ranks of our outstanding faculty by aggressive recruitment of new faculty who are exceptional scholars and also committed to being great teachers and student mentors.

• Tracking student evaluations with ambitious targets for steady improvement in the learning experience.

• Revising our curriculum in undergraduate and graduate programs to put more emphasis on leadership and strategic thinking.