The Graduate Business Curriculum Roundtable is pleased to announce the launch of our 2025 Innovator Award.

Continuous innovation is no longer an option, and business schools are innovating every day. Submit your innovations today, and let us celebrate the incredible work taking place in graduate business programmes around the world. Created in 2011, the Graduate Business Curriculum Roundtable Innovator Award Program promotes initiatives that advance innovation in graduate business education and recognises institutions that drive change in the field.

2025 Award Categories

• MBA Program Innovations – new curriculum and programmatic innovations in Full-Time, Part-Time, Online and Hybrid MBA programs.
• Specialty Master Program Innovations – new curriculum and programmatic innovations in Full-Time, Part-Time, Online and Hybrid speciality master programs.
• Leadership in Graduate Education Curriculum Innovation – awarded to an individual or team for their sustained commitment and success in leading curricular and programmatic innovations.

About the Graduate Business Curriculum Roundtable Innovator Award

The search for innovative ideas and approaches is central to managerial practice and to the pursuit of excellence within any organisation. Business schools are certainly no exception. Through the delivery of MBA and other graduate business education programs such as specialised masters and stackable credentials, business schools have a rich history of developing innovative programs, curricula, and processes that positively impact the educational experience and ultimately advance the practice of management worldwide.

Why an Innovator Award?

The Innovator Award Program is designed to:

• Raise awareness to businesses and to business educators of revitalisation and improvements in graduate business curricular and co-curricular content, format, and pedagogy
• Educate employers, business school leaders, and faculty about innovative practices of best-in-class graduate business programs and inspire others with ideas
• Recognise individuals and schools for their leadership to initiate and achieve curricular reform and enhance their reputation for innovation
• Enrich and deepen the relevance of the graduate business experience and enhance the school or programme brand with prospective students and employers

The Innovator Award program is administered biennially, and any business school that delivers a graduate business degree may submit an initiative for consideration.  Since its inception, over 120 business schools have submitted their initiatives.  Finalist and recipient school initiatives have covered every aspect of the content-pedagogy-format curricular framework with impact reach locally and globally and with benefits to the learner, business and community.  Click Here to Learn About the 2023 Innovator Award Winners

Award Benefits

• Recognition as a leader in the graduate business education industry, including
  • Media and marketing exposure on the Roundtable website and in their communications, press announcements, sponsor materials, social media, etc.
  • Logo and usage rights for awards granted to display on your website and social media
  • Opportunity to be featured in Roundtable webinars, symposiums and/or workshops
  • Invitations to present at other external conferences and events
  • Serve as a finalist judge for the next Innovator Award

Submission Information

The Graduate Business Curriculum Roundtable Innovator Award is open to a variety of curricular innovations from any school offering MBA and/or Specialty Masters Programs anywhere in the world.  Innovations can be early-stage innovations or established innovations.  Schools can submit more than one entry.

As we are often asked, here are a few examples of potential submission types/topics.  Click here for a list of previous winners.

• General Excellence in Overall Curriculum Innovation for programs that have made and implemented innovations across their entire program curriculum
• Innovation in Delivery Models and Modalities for programs that have created innovative delivery models and modalities for their curriculum, which could include driving innovation through specialised degrees; credentials and/or certificates within degree programs as well as innovative digital/online curriculum delivery
• Excellence in the Curricular Review and Management processes for programs that have developed unique and effective methods and systems for the regular review, management and updating of their program curriculum.
• Curricular Specializations or Focus for programs that have redesigned their curriculum or programs to focus and specialise on a specific theme or topic such as sustainability, globalisation, or industry specialisation
• Teaching Pedagogy for programs that have developed innovative teaching and assessment methods for their program
• Experiential Learning Innovations for programs that have designed and implemented new and innovative ways to deliver experiential learning opportunities for their students
• The incorporation of AI in the curriculum and/or using AI to manage and innovate curriculum and programs.
• Innovative use of data and learning analytics to drive program and curricular innovation
• Inclusion Innovation in Graduate Business Curriculum focuses on programs that have driven change and incorporated improvements in providing inclusive content and learning experiences throughout their program curriculum

*The Graduate Business Curriculum Roundtable reserves the right to move submissions to the most appropriate categories if necessary.  If there are no substantial, qualified submissions for any category, the Roundtable reserves the right not to offer an award in that category.

Visit https://gbcroundtable.org/innovatoraward to learn more and to complete your 2025 Innovator Award Submission.  Winners will be announced at the Roundtable’s 2025 Annual Curricular Innovation Symposium on 24 October.  The deadline for submission is 27 July 2025.

For additional insights, trends and perspectives about the Awards and Competitions in Business and Education, visit the conversation here.