April 20, 2009- (ATLANTA) - MBA students at Georgia State's J. Mack Robinson College of Business are joining forces this month to support the Atlanta Community Food Bank. The project, known as "Cans in the Classroom," reflects a broad effort by Robinson to integrate community engagement into the educational experience and mold leaders whose sense of social responsibility reflects their business expertise. MBA students are organizing canned food collections at classroom locations in Alpharetta, Brookhaven and downtown for transport to the Atlanta Community Food Bank. Diane Fennig, director of Graduate Student Services for Robinson and staff coordinator for the campaign, said, "Our MBA students have responded wholeheartedly in supporting this effort to gather food for the homeless and needy in the Atlanta area. They have risen to the occasion at a time when the need is greatest." Robinson students are undertaking this project in conjunction with TeamMBA, a global initiative to encourage business school students, staff, faulty and alumni to become involved in their communities. Since TeamMBA was launched by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) in 2005, thousands of students, staff and faculty from scores of schools have donated thousands of volunteer hours and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charities and community organizations. GMAC is an international nonprofit association of leading business schools and sponsor of the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT).

The largest business school in the South and part of a major research institution, the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University is located in Atlanta, an epicenter of business and a gateway to the world. With programs on four continents and students from 150 countries, the College is both worldwide and world class. Its part-time MBA program is ranked number five in the nation and has been in the top 10 for 13 consecutive years. The College has 200 faculty, 7,400 students and 65,000 alumni. Noted for an emphasis on educating leaders, the Robinson College and Georgia State have produced more of Georgia's top executives with graduate degrees than any other school in the nation.