Stony Brook Southampton Adds "Green" BA/BS-MBA Program

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y., June 12, 2008 – As the new Stony Brook Southampton continues to grow and take shape, a new, fast-track BA/BS-MBA program has been added, utilizing SBS’s engaging undergraduate curriculum focused on environmental sustainability and Stony Brook University’s extensive business offerings. Already, the program has attracted its first student for this “green” MBA.

Helen Gifford in Dubai.

“I’m truly excited to be a trailblazer for this new program,” said Helen Gifford, an East Hampton resident who is working toward her BA in Environmental Studies at Southampton. “Green businesses will be the wave of the future, and I am learning all I can to make sustainability something that’s both environmentally feasible and business smart.”

Gifford, who previously attended Parsons School of Design, creates captivating light sculptures through her business, HelenBilt (helenbilt.com). Her work has received acclaim in international magazines and her clients have included such celebrities as Meg Ryan, Rachel Wiesz, Darren Star and Gwyneth Paltrow, and such notable locations as the Ritz Carlton, Beijing and W hotels. Gifford recently returned from the green Kingdom of Dubai and Abu Dhabi and saw firsthand how “going green improves quality of life while yielding a high return on the investment. …What’s happening in those places, which are expanding, seemingly exponentially, is about to have a huge impact on similar markets,” she added.

She believes a green MBA will give her a competitive edge in the marketplace. “Let’s face it, businesses have to become more sustainable, not only because of changes in how society views the environment more responsibly, but also to bolster their bottom lines as often the most environmentally prudent solutions are also the most affordable,” she added. “What I’m doing is creating my dream job: I can both make money and help save the environment.”

The five-year program balances Gifford’s undergraduate environmental studies work each fall and spring at Southampton while she benefits from summer graduate business courses at Stony Brook University. BA/BS-MBA students may also major in Southampton’s other environmentally focused majors, Marine Sciences and Marine Vertebrate Biology.

For further information about Stony Brook Southampton’s green, fast-track BA/BS-MBA program, contact the Admission Office at 631-632-5035.

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