Andrea Mennillo welcome speech at the first conference virtually hosted by Fordham University’s London Centre as part of Gabelli’s Centennial Celebration. The discussion was about what Business Education will be in the current changing economic world.

1. Andrea Mennillo
The Future of Business Education
Speech
Fordham University
Gabelli School of Business
Web Conference
October 1st, 2020

2. Fordham London October 1st
The Future of Business Education
⁃ 2020 shall be remembered as a horrible year
As of today, we have a death toll of over 1 million and 34 million people infected all over the
world with COVID-19.
The pandemic curve doesn’t seem to mitigate its aggression and we are expected to live even
more troubling months for at least another year.
⁃ Not only has global health been severely hit, but also the economic and financial
worlds have suffered. And mostly, our social behaviors have drastically changed in response to
COVID.
⁃ Education is one of the most important processes in the human life. It is an
enlightening experience for women and men through which we progress and develop. According
to Joseph Meyer, the German 19th century industrialist and publisher, “ Education sets you
free”, or in his own language “Bildung macht Frei”.
⁃ The COVID-19 pandemic has created the largest disruption of education systems
in history, affecting nearly 1,6 billion learners in more than 190 countries and all continents with
closures of schools and other learning spaces, impacting 94% of the world’s student population.
Source UN
⁃ Education is wounded, but education is resilient.
⁃ 2020 for Gabelli has been a glorious year because we have celebrated our
Centennial, our 100th
birthday!
⁃ This year shall not be recalled as a year of parties and toasts like we would have
celebrated prior to COVID. We have reshaped the Centennial celebrations to remember all of
the teachers, administrators, and students that over the decades, contributed to ground the
school and build the School of Business at Fordham University into one of finest education
centers in the world.
⁃ And thanks to one of the most prestigious alumni and surely our greatest
benefactor, Mario Gabelli, we want keep doing extraordinary well for the next century.
⁃ The Gabelli education model is marked by the Jesuit tradition, which St Ignatius
of Loyola, the founder of Society of Jesus, inspired over 470 years ago.
⁃ This unparalleled, holistic approach which infused Jesuit principles into both the
curriculum and the student experience, has forged extraordinary women and men of leadership
and honor.
- Our Jesuit-inspired academic program encourages students to be guided by principles of ethical
living, service to others, the search for truth, and a passion for justice.

3. The rankings, just recently delivered, have shown Gabelli as a leader in International Business,
Corporate Social Responsibility, Global Sustainability.
So we have celebrated our Centennial at Gabelli delivering outstanding lectures with
extraordinary guest who have honored our school with their participation.
We have heard from a Nobel Prize recipient, former Secretaries of treasury, corporate leaders,
and regulators who have shared their wisdom and knowledge, offering great moments of the
highest education to our Fordham community.
Today is also a great day for our London Centre.
Fordham was granted, for many years, hospitality for its International Programs at Heythrop
College, the regarded Theology College of University of London.
Then two years ago, Fordham decided to make a most important investment ever by an
American university in London.
We now have great center in a vibrant neighborhood of London, where American students have
often experienced their first time abroad.
The Fordham University London Center is charged with an even more ambitious task.
FULC wants to become the Global Education Hub for Fordham and Gabelli.
• We will be the eye to see the world from different perspectives.
• We will be the ear to listen to different voices and languages.
• We will be the tongue to taste unknown flavors.
• A truly global Education.
We believe in our educational model and we have been asked to move forward and to do
“more”.
This is an Ignatian charisma, to do more, and is called MAGIS in Latin.
We will seek full accreditation for a number of programs for undergraduate and graduate
students that distinguish Fordham among other US universities.
This is a challenging task, but we are confident in our path and in the commitment from the
University’s leadership and the dialogue with the Secretary of State for Education in the UK has
started.
I wish to thank the regarded speakers who have accepted our invitation and have joined us in
this great day of Education.
Let me hand it back over to Meghann to introduce our first panel.