The McDonough School of Business hosted events for faculty and students this week as it celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Rafik B. Hariri Building.  

The building, inaugurated in fall 2009, includes classrooms and auditoriums that have hosted both MSB students and visiting CEOs, politicians and entrepreneurs over the past decade. The anniversary celebrations will continue over the next several weeks. 

The building is named after the late Lebanese prime minister and philanthropist Hariri, whose son, Saad Hariri, graduated from the MSB in 1992. It serves as the first permanent home for the MSB, making it even more significant for the program, according to Chris M. Kormis, associate dean, chief marketing officer and senior advisor to the dean.

The building has played a crucial role in the development of the business school, Kormis wrote. 

“The Hariri Building became the home for the McDonough School of Business and really helped us become the community we are today,” Kormis wrote in an email to The Hoya. “Our students, faculty, and staff are able to collaborate like never before.”

The business program continues to grow in the new building and is currently ranked 26th in overall full-time MBA programs in the United States by Bloomberg Business, and 15th for its undergraduate program by U.S. News and World Report.

The MSB has organized celebrations like serving District Doughnut at the weekly “Bagels with the Dean” event, creating a social media campaign using the hashtag #10YearsAtHariri and celebrating faculty and staff with Baked and Wired cupcakes. Stephanie Martineau, director of events at the MSB, planned the anniversary events.

In celebration, the school has hung banners throughout the building in an effort to recognize the MSB’s “D.C. Advantage,”“Georgetown Expertise” and “Jesuit Tradition,” the aspects of the school that make it a unique institution, according to a tweet from the MSB.

Fully donor-funded, the Hariri Building has contributed to creating a more prestigious business program at Georgetown, Kormis wrote.

“We are very fortunate that our alumni community stepped up to support the construction of a building for the McDonough School of Business,” Kormis wrote. “The Hariri Building has enabled us to work much more closely together, enriched our faculty research and academic offerings, and provided venues to host prominent speakers – all of which have raised the school in prominence.”

The building has served as an important role in unifying the MSB community, enabling the school to hold major events in the Lohrfink Auditorium and to host prominent business executives in the Fisher Colloquium.

In addition to alumni’s generosity, the building has been greatly supported by the community members who maintain the building, according to Michael O’Leary, faculty chair of the undergraduate business program.

“We are also deeply indebted to the unsung heroes who keep the building clean and well maintained. It is no small accomplishment to keep a 10-year-old building looking as good as it does,” O’Leary wrote in an email to The Hoya. “Everyone from our building manager Rob Johnston to the overnight cleaning crew does a fantastic job ensuring that the space is at its best for learning, research, and a steady stream of phenomenal events.”

The business program continues to lead in its field and the anniversary of the building is an uplifting event for all of those involved in the MSB, according to Kormis.

The building allows for a positive environment that encourages student and faculty interaction, Kormis wrote. 

“The building was designed to bring people together with its open atrium, breakout rooms, student lounges, Lohrfink Auditorium, and Fisher Colloquium,” Kormis wrote. “It’s just a great place to come to work every day.”