The University of Michigan has a new address just a few steps from Rodeo Drive.

Applications are rolling in for the University's Stephen M. Ross School of Business, which is offering a 20-month Executive MBA (EMBA) program that meets once a month beginning this fall at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.

This marks the first time in the University's history that a student can earn a Michigan degree outside the Great Lakes state.

It's a business move, says Alison Davis-Blake, dean of the Ross School.

"Los Angeles offers an ideal entry point for the Ross EMBA," she says. "U-M is a top-tier global brand that already attracts a significant number of candidates from the West Coast."

Most importantly, the program will be taught by faculty who've secured the Ann Arbor EMBA's status as one of the world's top-ranked offerings. Veteran Ross professor George Siedel, Williamson Family Professor of Business Administration and Thurnau Professor of Business Law, is just one of the school's award-winning scholars who will bring his expertise to LA in the fall. Siedel specializes in using law as a proactive force for competitive advantage. Perhaps it is fitting then that he enjoys cage diving with great white sharks.

The move to the West Coast offers an opportunity to further expand global access to both Ross and its world-class faculty, Dean Davis-Blake says. Nearly 4,000 business school alumni live and work in California and more than 43,000 reside in 88 countries across the globe. Overall, U-M alumni comprise a worldwide network of some 500,000 members.

"Ross brings an action-based, once-a-month format that appeals to forward thinkers, entrepreneurs, and career switchers eager to innovate in the global economy," says Davis-Blake. "This West Coast expansion allows us to build on a strong alumni presence in the region, respond to a market need, and replicate that model of delivery to future markets across the U.S. and beyond.

Davis-Blake expects to add other off-site programs in the near future. The Ross School's Global MBA Program currently offers modules in Japan, Korea, and China and concludes with an extended residency in Ann Arbor. Ross also delivers executive education programs across the globe.