NIU College of Business Dean Balaji Rajagopalan is pleased to announce a new home for the college’s Chicago-based, one-year MBA program. Since the beginning of fall 2021, the program has been housed in residence within MATTER, a global health care incubator located in Chicago’s Merchandise Mart. The new location, along with the collaborative arrangement, provide expanded hands-on learning opportunities for NIU MBA students through MATTER’s global health care startup and corporate innovation accelerator activities, as well as its focus on serving as a community nexus.
The new location expands upon an existing three-year partnership, launched in spring 2019. At that time, NIU MBA students created comprehensive business plans for a variety of MATTER startups, among them ClostraBio, Humaginarium, Maxwell Telecare, Vous Vitamins, SuperBetter and OpenLoop.
“The MATTER partnership provides our students with a real-world opportunity to reimagine industry, learn how a business starts and apply the knowledge they have gained through our MBA program,” said Rajagopalan. “These exceptional experiences have challenged our students to think about business holistically while balancing the vision of the organization and market demands. This partnership truly provides our students with transformative experiences they’ll remember for a lifetime. We are thrilled about the partnership and look forward to seeing what the future brings now that our one-year MBA classroom is embedded within MATTER.”
“MATTER operates on the premise that the best way to advance health care innovation is through collaboration,” said MATTER CEO Steven Collens. “Having the NIU MBA program in residence brings an outstanding academic institution together with our broader community. We are honored to host these up-and-coming business leaders at MATTER and create connections to startups and industry players.”
To learn more about the NIU Chicago one-year MBA and MATTER, please visit mbaprograms.niu.edu and matter.health.
by M. Dudek, Digital Marketing major and Graduate Assistant, MBA Office, NIU College of Business
