2009 – A message from the VCU - Philip Morris Endowed Chair in International Business

Since my arrival at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in August of 1994, to assume the Philip Morris Endowed Chair in International Business, I have witnessed an enormous interest in all things related to global commerce.  The reason behind this interest is fairly transparent.  Globalization – today’s “super story” - ushered in with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the demise of the Soviet Union (1992) and the end of the last “super story” (the cold war) - brought about a connectivity across all of humanity that had never been witnessed before.  And while today’s world-wide recession is to a large degree associated with the ease of this connectivity, it is clearly apparent that significant positive outcomes have also transpired from it. 

Specifically, over the last quarter century, a revolution in world-wide information access, technology use, finance admittance, logistics linkage and trade enhancement policies has brought hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and increased world GDP from $31 trillion in 1999 to almost $62 trillion in 2008.  Between 2003 and 2007, average income world wide grew at a faster rate (3.1%) than in any previous period in recorded human history.  In 2006 and 2007 – the peak years of the boom – 124 countries around the world grew at 4% a year or more, about four times as many as 25 years ago.  And the list can go on.

During this period, the VCU School of Business has engaged this global connectivity phenomenon through forums, courses, research, scholarships, grants and service undertaking.   It is through the formation of this Center (the Center for International Business Advancement – CIBA) and this webpage that we bring such engagements under one roof.   

I invite you to peruse this site and learn more about the VCU International Business Certificate Program (IBCP), the Philip Morris Endowed Chair, courses focusing on international business and global commerce, scholarships and grants that are available, and other items related to this important topic.  Connectivity is not going away and neither is globalization.  Join us in learning more about what they mean and what they portend for all our futures.

Sincerely,

Van R. Wood (Ph.D.)
Philip Morris Chair in International Business, and Professor of International Marketing
Virginia Commonwealth University
School of Business - Snead Hall
301 West Main Street
Office B4102
Richmond, Virginia 23284
Office Telephone -  (804) - 828 - 1746
Mobile Telephone -(804) - 519 - 2022
Fax ---------------------(804) - 828 - 8884
Office e - mail - vrwood@vcu.edu