The Adam Smith Society experienced unprecedented growth in 2016-2017. In the past year, we added chapters at five MBA programs, for a total of 30 chapters at top business schools throughout the country. We also expanded programming for our six Professional Chapters in Austin, Boston, Chicago, Houston, New York City, and San Francisco. We grew our total membership by 62% and hope to exceed that growth in the upcoming year.
With support from our program office, our chapters executed over 200 events this past year. Programming included classroom lectures, keynote speeches, panel discussions and debates, salon dinners, film watch parties, book clubs, and receptions. This year, our chapters were exceptionally innovative, leveraging their resources and talents to connect their members with our network of business and thought leaders from various industries.
We launched our Smith Soc Treks series in Fall 2016. Throughout the course of the year, the program has established itself as an integral part of our mission, enabling our members to engage in a series of destination-based, weekend-long retreats. Each semester, we convene two all-expenses paid treks, one focused on a key historical & philosophical question, and another on a current and pressing public policy issue. For each trek, a small group of members is selected from a pool of applicants to participate in seminar-style discussions led by industry experts and scholars. Topics have included the future of American energy, health care reform, the debate between capitalism and socialism, and political realignments in the U.S.
In 2017, we hosted our fifth-annual Adam Smith Society National Meeting in NYC. This year's meeting was our most successful to date, with over 300 attendees, and slate of speakers from industry, journalism, and academia. The program included not only formal talks, but also panel discussions and interviews, as well as break-out networking sessions where our members got the opportunity to connect with a variety of business and thought leaders who had spoken for Smith Soc during the course of the year. This year, speakers included Ken Griffin, CEO of Citadel; J.D. Vance, New York Times Bestselling Author of Hillbilly Elegy; and Paul Singer, founder of Elliot Management Corporation.
Looking Forward
We’ve been fortunate to build an excellent base of more than 6,500 elite, market-minded MBA student and alumni members. As we continue to grow, we will be launching exciting new initiatives and programming—allowing our members to solidify their commitment to the Adam Smith Society, and expanding our network of businessmen and women.
To learn more about our recent initiatives, please see the below.
• Our multi-level membership program launched in mid-June.
• Our professional chapters are hosting summer receptions in six cities.
• Our 30 student chapters will begin another year of events this fall.