Lindner College of Business Receives Two Higher Education Grants from Procter & Gamble

The University of Cincinnati Carl H. Lindner College of Business received two one-year grants from the Procter & Gamble (P&G) Fund Higher Education Grant Program to support a big data initiative and a student organization. Together, the two grants total nearly $20,000.

From the six proposals UC submitted this year, three projects were selected (two from Lindner) for funding by the P&G grant program. The Higher Education Grants provide support for programs within regionally accredited U.S. colleges and universities that aim to better prepare students for success. 

The two grants awarded to the Lindner College of Business will help the Department of Operations, Business Analytics, and Information Systems (OBAIS) implement phase two of a Big Data Initiative as well as enable the International Bearcats (iCats) student organization to establish a new First-Year Cultural Development Program (FYCDP).

According to the McKinsey Global Institute, there is a growing interest for big data solutions in the business world and the U.S. will need to increase the number of graduates with data science skills by 60% to meet this demand. In order to address this high demand for big data skills, the OBAIS department launched the Big Data Initiative in the Spring of 2015, which has grown into a robust research collaboration amongst several OBAIS faculty members, including Roger Chiang, Michael Fry, Andrew Harrison, Michael Magazine, Binny Samuel, Zhe (Jay) Shan, Yichen Qin and Yan Yu. With the support from an initial P&G Higher Education Grant awarded in December 2015, the team has made several significant achievements at the Lindner College of Business, including building big data infrastructure, developing a state-of-the-art big data curriculum, and innovating student learning experiences.

“Building upon the current OBAIS Big Data Initiative, the new Big Data Curriculum aims to develop the next generation of big data professionals—Lindner students who will become cutting-edge data experts and will go on to work at Fortune 500 companies such as Procter & Gamble,” says Shan, assistant professor in the OBAIS department and one of the initiative’s key stakeholders.

“This Big Data Curriculum will also create more opportunities for Lindner students to work on real projects with local organizations, help solve business problems, collaborate with the business community and expand professional networks through these partnerships,” he notes. “In addition, this big data analytics platform will provide Lindner faculty members the necessary research infrastructure to conduct high-performance analysis on large-scale data sets.”

The second grant, awarded to International Bearcats, will fund the FYCDP, which aims to enrich its members’ cultural understanding through a series of dynamic and interactive workshops. Led by a team of Lindner faculty and students, these bi-weekly workshops will expose students to religion, food, customs and business practices around the world.

“We are honored to receive support from P&G and are enthusiastic about the future of this program,” notes Garrett Ainsworth, a third-year marketing, business economics and finance student and president of iCats. “This award will allow iCats to continue to enhance the global knowledge of its members and better prepare them to enter the international workforce.”

According to Daniel Gruber, associate dean for Innovation and New Ventures, these projects represent some of the extensive faculty research happening within the college and the importance of student-led organizations. “It is exciting to see the rigorous world-class research from our faculty being awarded as well as the vibrant, impactful student organizations that we have,” he says. “We are grateful for P&G’s support of the Lindner College of Business.”

About the University of Cincinnati Carl H. Lindner College of Business

The Carl H. Lindner College of Business at the University of Cincinnati is at an exciting moment on its path to continued preeminence. As a leader in research and teaching excellence, the College has earned national acclaim in several academic areas across its undergraduate, graduate and online programs. In 2019, the College will move into a new state-of-the-art $120-million building, which will serve as a 21st century hub for students, faculty and the Greater Cincinnati business community and provide a collaborative space for education, research and innovation to thrive. The 225,000-square-foot facility is one of the most ambitious construction projects ever undertaken by the University and promises to firmly position Lindner among the best business schools in the nation.