Making the Grade

W hen Toufic Tasso bought a faltering business school five years ago, he never dreamed of the financial windfall the investment would bring. “I didn’t imagine that there could be such potential in operating a business school in Lebanon,” says Tasso. Over the course of nearly two decades, the 88-year-old Pigier business school had lost its reputation as one of the Middle East’s foremost centers of business studies. The high caliber teaching staff that worked at the school before the war was gone; many had fled the country. Neighboring universities – such as Lebanese University, American University of Beirut (AUB), Haigazian, Lebanese American University and Notre Dame – developed strong business programs of their own, therefore increasing competition tremendously. Pigier’s student population dwindled from 1,300 in 1975 to less than 200 by 1995. Tasso’s arrival on campus marked a turning point. During his first year, the school broke even on