Last updated on June 13th, 2024
The USC Marshall School of Business has launched a new online degree program. The master of science, food industry leadership (MS.FIL), is designed for current and future food industry executives. Developed through conversations with senior-level food industry management (FIM) program alumni and the Western Association of Food Chains (WAFC), the MS.FIL will deliver relevant and innovative industry management skills and cultivate leadership abilities among executives interested in pursuing or enhancing their careers. While primarily an online program, the 16-month MS.FIL also includes four on-campus residential events.
“This new degree serves an industry that has worked closely with USC since 1958 and that has supported and graduated hundreds of executives through our food-industry certificate programs,” said James G. Ellis, dean of the USC Marshall School of Business. “Establishing it now is consistent with Marshall’s ongoing efforts to expand the scope of our graduate programs and have a significant impact on the business community.”
Marshall’s MS.FIL will expose executives to new innovative practices in team building, problem-solving, critical thinking and advanced decision-making to facilitate the assessment and resolution of key business issues.
“The MS.FIL is designed to leverage the leadership and organizational skills of food executives while exposing them to new tools and innovative solutions for being both proactive and reactive to new food trends, new consumer demands, and new paradigms in how food is developed, sourced, acquired and consumed,” said Cynthia McCloud, director of Marshall’s food industry programs. “This program provides tools, concepts, frameworks and critical thinking as well as practical hands-on, experiential learning in areas such as leadership, strategic planning and managing change as a senior leader.”
“With this novel and innovative program, we are moving an important step forward in serving and engaging a key industry. I expect it to be a model for other future programs,” said Peer Fiss, chair of the Department of Management and Organization.
Recruitment has begun for January 2019. More information about the program and the admissions process is available here.
USC Marshall School of Business is known for offering two food industry programs. Individuals have the choice of participating in either the once-a-year, one-semester spring Food Industry Management (FIM) program established in 1958, or in a four-day Food Executive Program (FIEP) offered each year in the spring and fall.
