The country’s premiere graduate school for business and management, the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), held yesterday (July 6, 2020), its first online convocation to officially welcome the next cohort of students for its Executive Master in Disaster Risk and Crisis Management (EMDRCM) Program.
The two-hour event conducted via Zoom Conferencing had over a hundred attendees including members of the faculty, the Institute’s leadership team, students, alumni, staff, partners and collaborators of AIM who witnessed the 42 strong members of the EMDRCM Cohort 2 get introduced for the first time.
The EMDRCM Program, under the Stephen Zuellig School Graduate School of Development Management (ZSDM) was introduced last year and is the newest program offering of the Institute.
AIM Dean and President, Dr. Jikyeong Kang, PhD, delivered the welcome message where she congratulated the new students for taking the bold step into their academic and professional advancement especially amidst this ongoing global health disaster. She emphasized that as we navigate the complexities and uncertainties of this time where there are no playbooks to guide our actions, we need more resilience leaders with the right mindset, skills and attitude to bring people together.
For his part, Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go, ZSDM School Head and concurrent academic program director of the EMDRCM, shared the rich history of the Institute and the ZSDM, followed by a comprehensive overview of the 18-month part-time degree program.
After the incoming students introduced themselves, special guest speaker Mr. Hans Sy, Chairman of the Executive Committee of SM Prime Holdings, Inc. and ARISE (a United Nations Office of Disaster Risk Reduction network of private organizations) global member, delivered his inspirational message.
In his message, Mr. Sy shared some of his personal experiences dealing with disasters, as he reminded the students that the thankless (and at many times overwhelming job) of disaster management is not for the faint-hearted as there are so many expectations from all sides. But he urged the group to persevere as there is much work to do and that the country as a whole really needs more disaster resilience leaders.
For more information about the EMDRCM program and the other offerings of the AIM check out emdrcm@aim. edu and www.aim.edu.
