Carnegie Mellon will offer a new integrated engineering and business program culminating in a bachelor of science degree in engineering and a master's degree in business administration. The program, the only one of its kind among the top-ranked engineering programs nationwide, is scheduled to begin next fall.

The program will admit up to 20 students who are interested in completing an integrated five-year program leading to a bachelor's degree in one of five engineering majors from the Carnegie Institute of Technology, and a master's degree from the business school.

"We foresee these students becoming leaders in technology, planning and investment management," said John Anderson, dean of the College of Engineering. "This new integrated double degree program relies on the excellence of our faculty in both our business and engineering programs."

"The real advantage here is for focused and motivated students who know what they want and don't want to wait to get their MBA," said Kenneth B. Dunn, dean of the business school. "This is a very exciting program because it allows them to get their career on a better trajectory in a shorter amount of time."

The integrated program requires students to take their normal engineering program through six semesters with the remaining four semesters consisting of MBA courses and engineering courses. Internships complement the program's depth, with the students completing three internships in engineering and business for practical experience.

Philip L. Dowd, who received his undergraduate engineering degree in 1963, said he went into an MBA program right after graduation.

"I found that the addition of an MBA to my engineering degree changed the way employers looked at me," said Dowd, a member of Carnegie Mellon's Board of Trustees and a managing director of Sherick Enterprises LLC, a financial services company.

"This new integrated degree program is a great deal because it gives our students the ability to showcase engineering skills as well as essential business practices in marketing and accounting," Dowd said.

Trustee Kears Pollock, who received his bachelor's and master's degrees in chemical engineering in 1962 and 1964, said the new integrated program gives Carnegie Mellon an excellent new market niche and plays on the school's tradition of innovative education. Pollock is a retired executive vice president of PPG Industries.

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Chriss Swaney & Mike Laffin