For the first time in Russia, there is an opportunity for executives to learn best international leadership and management practices and earn two prestigious graduate degrees—an Executive MBA (EMBA) from Georgia State University's J. Mack Robinson College of Business, the first EMBA to be offered by a U.S. school on-site in Russia, and an M.S. in management from Moscow State. Both are offered as part of a new, innovative "Executive Leaders" partnership, which will provide the most comprehensive approach to executive leadership education available anywhere in the world.

April 8, 2008 - (MOSCOW) - Russia's first Executive MBA (EMBA) will be part of a joint program announced today by Lomonosov Moscow State University and Georgia State University's J. Mack Robinson College of Business in Atlanta. The program, to be known as Executive Leaders, also will provide students the opportunity to earn a Master's of Science in management. The EMBA will be conferred by the Robinson College, while the MS will be conferred by Lomonosov Moscow State.

The unique dual degree also will be accompanied by various other initiatives for students and the Russian business community, including a Moscow Executive Leaders forum, featuring high-profile business and government speakers from around the world, and Roundtable Working Groups of business leaders to discuss timely topics and share information. Students in the dual-degree program also will benefit from executive-level company visits and international residencies.

Moscow State Faculty of Economics Dean Vasili Kolesov; Robinson Dean Fenwick Huss; Jim Senn, managing director of Robinson's Center for Global Business Leadership; and Vladimir Echenique, vice-dean of Moscow State's Faculty of Economics, announced the program today in Moscow. Senn and Echenique will co-direct the program.

The dual degree portion of the Executive Leaders program will feature 3 days of classes each month to be taught in English by faculty of both Robinson and Moscow State. The classes will be held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

According to Kolesov, "this partnership between two premier institutions will transform business education in Russia. It will help managers of Russian and Russia-based companies acquire professional knowledge of international business. In addition," said Kolesov, "Russia overall will benefit from this, as these managers will guarantee Russia's leadership in international markets."

Dean Huss called the program "the most comprehensive approach to executive leadership available anywhere in the world. Robinson is proud to work with Lomonosov Moscow State and be a trailblazer in providing a multi-faceted approach to executive leadership training."

According to Echenique, "Lomonosov Moscow State University has long been the premier institution of higher education in Russia. The announcement of this new agreement with Georgia State extends the legacy of the university by adding a totally new dimension to our offerings. The Executive MBA offers students a very specialized MBA program with an emphasis on leadership. It is different from anything offered before in Russia."

Senn sees this as a giant opportunity for business in Russia. "As Russian companies have expanded, they have experienced a distinct need for executive-level talent. The unique Robinson/Lomonosov Moscow State program will fill a much-needed demand for practical information on effective leadership and provide a quality of education never before available in Russia."

A 1-week opening retreat will be held this coming December at Moscow State. Classes will begin in late January 2009.

Lomonosov Moscow State University is the oldest and most prestigious educational institution in Russia. The university specializes in economics, business, the humanities and modern sciences such as mechanics, nuclear physics, astronomy, lasers, molecular biology and others. The school has more than 40,000 students, and 8,500 professors and associate professors. Moscow State University claims among its graduates and professors Nobel Prize winners and world-famous scientists. According to national and international surveys, Lomonosov Moscow State University is ranked first in Russia and among the top 10 universities in the world.

The J. Mack Robinson College of Business is one of the top-ranked business schools in the nation. The College's Flex (part-time) MBA program has been listed in the top 10 by U.S. News for the past 12 years, and its undergraduate business program is ranked among the top 50 in the nation. BusinessWeek ranks the college's part-time MBA program fifth in the nation among public universities. The college's Executive MBA program is on the Financial Times list of the world's top-ranked offerings. Georgia State University's Robinson College of Business has an enrollment of more than 7,000 students and is located in downtown Atlanta. The College has more than 60,000 alumni holding leadership positions around the world, including major international corporations such as The Coca-Cola Company, UPS, VF Corporation and Delta Airlines, among others.