The inaugural Adams Fellowship will be awarded next year to a student undertaking a Master of Business Administration (MBA) or Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) at Massey’s Business School.
Worth $56,000 annually, the Adams Fellowship provides significant financial support, as well as business mentoring and research opportunities at critical health infrastructure manufacturer ESCO Industries.
Dr Jeffrey Stangl, Associate Dean at Massey Business School, says the gift establishes one of the most prestigious fellowships in the country, and will open doors for talented candidates otherwise unable to reach their potential.
“The Adams Fellowship reflects the values of excellence, practical impact and service to community. It will create life-changing opportunities for emerging business leaders.”
Steve Adams.
Born in Palmerston North and now based in Sydney, Mr Adams is the owner and Executive Chairman of ESCO Group.
He purchased the family-owned firm in 2005 through a leveraged buyout, and grew it into a market-leading manufacturer of medical gas and electrical componentry. Today, ESCO Industries has customers throughout Asia Pacific and 80 staff across Australia and New Zealand.
Mr Adams credits his Bachelor of Technology with First Class Honours from Massey, majoring in Manufacturing and Industrial Technology, with providing the essential practical and analytical skills that have underpinned his business success.
“It is a great university and a great course that was just built for people like me. I want to give something back to Massey and Palmerston North; I’m in a position to do so and I’m in this for the long haul.”
He believes New Zealand and Australia are ideally suited to producing business leaders, by virtue of their “generalist societies”.
“We have a jack-of-all-trades approach, which means we understand various roles and how they work together. We can look at a business systemically and be visionary. My aim is to share my experience and learnings with Fellowship recipients, so they can back themselves and back their vision to make it a reality.”
The fund will enable MBA and EMBA students to advance their capabilities, broaden their horizons and strengthen New Zealand’s future leadership capacity, Dr Stangl says.
“The Adams Fellowship represents extraordinary generosity and vision. Massey Business School expresses its sincere appreciation for this transformative support.”
Massey University's MBA programme is the longest continuously running MBA in New Zealand, established in 1972. It focuses on practical, real-world application and networking. The programme has received significant international recognition, with recent rankings placing it in the top 10 in Oceania, and within the top 250 globally.
The Massey University Foundation is a charity that administrates and invests charitable gifts to the university. The Foundation currently has $86 million in assets and supports scholarship, research and teaching at Massey University.
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