Mentorship and the Executives in Residence Program at Columbia Business School
Mentorship is a differentiator at Columbia Business School’s Executives in Residence Program, where C-level executives are paired with MBA students to help bridge theory and practice at the very center of business. Hear from students, alumni, and their mentors who explain the benefits of the Executives in Residence Program, the oldest and largest program of its kind.
Building Relationships With Business Leaders
The Executives in Residence Program is comprised of 25 senior executives from the C-Suite of companies in industry verticals such as technology, retail, health care, manufacturing and consumer goods as well as senior partners from strategy consulting, private equity, financial services and real estate.
Columbia's EIR program is unique among the top-tier MBA programs because of the scope of our executives' involvement at the school. The program was established in 1971; founder Robert W. Lear then served as the school's sole executive in residence. In the ensuing years the program grew in both size and breadth of impact.
The program has two areas of focus:
- We advise and mentor students
- Career counseling
- New business ventures
- Professional and personal challenges
- We contribute "practice" to the School's strategy of bridging theory to practice
- Teaching
- Industry and functional expertise
- To other programs and centers at the School
- Faculty research
Advise and Mentor Students
A hallmark of the EIR program is mentoring meetings between students and our executives in residence. Most frequently these are one-on-one private meetings. Executives also conduct Lunch and Learn events and lead group meetings with student clubs.
- Meetings are scheduled through COIN. To inquire about upcoming availability, contact Alexandra Rogers at [email protected].
- We strongly encourage students to schedule an initial EIR meeting early in their first semester, to begin to clarify career plans and assess options for internship opportunities. Often students establish ongoing mentoring relationships with executives during the course of their time at Columbia.
Discussions typically focus on a student's interests, background and experience as he or she considers a career in a particular area. Executives often advise students in areas such as:
- Skills and abilities required to succeed in a particular industry or company
- Job search strategies, internships and full-time positions
- Career path planning beyond the initial position
- Dealing with challenging professional or personal issues
- Commercializing new business and entrepreneurial ventures