About the Sustainable Business Center

Smeal College of Business's formal engagement with sustainability began in 2008 when then Senior Associate Dean of Research, Dr. Gerald Susman, began holding lunch talks with interested faculty. Today, sustainability is a strategic priority for Smeal and a topic that increasingly permeates the educational experiences, research activities, outreach, and operations of the college. The Sustainable Business Center aligns with Smeal’s vision to be one of the very best business schools in the world. It's producing leading-edge business research brought to life in active learning environments by an outstanding faculty, and preparing graduates for productive careers in business.

Our Team 

Travis Lesser
Director
tal218@psu.edu

Expertise & Experience: As Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation & Entrepreneurship's Program Coordinator, he administers programming like the CIENT Student Experienceship Program, Propel Business - New Innovation & Entrepreneurship Program, and works on projects focused on social entrepreneurship and impact.

Sustainability Course(s) Taught: BA 342 – Res/Sustn/Ethc Bus

Expertise: Sustainability, Prosocial behavior, Identity, Unethical behavior, Cultural Differences (Power Distance), Emotions

The Advisory Board assists in guiding Smeal’s sustainability agenda by helping to match the college’s strengths with the sustainability issues that the board members encounter as they lead their corporations’ sustainability efforts. The board also benchmarks Smeal’s sustainability efforts with those of other business schools, identifies essential sustainability research areas, explores collaborations with other University sustainability initiatives, and evaluates the college’s graduate and undergraduate sustainability curricula. 

Our intern program is a paid experiential learning internship where students are charged with a project that relates to the Center’s mission: to accelerate the integration of sustainability in business, while also engaging with other Center staff and interns in an intentionally developmental and collaborative environment.

Education & Curriculum