A Philosophy of a Liberal Arts Education

The faculty and staff of the Weissman School are committed to the most ambitious aims of an undergraduate education in the arts and sciences: to encourage the growth of our students as citizens, as future professionals, and as human beings. This commitment informs all of our efforts to promote the acquisition of superior communication and quantitative skills, the development of critical and analytical abilities, and the cultivation of aesthetic, ethical, civic, and cross-cultural awareness.

Whether students come to us with the intention of majoring in one of our own subjects or go on to major in business or public affairs, a belief in the value of learning in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences is at the core of our mission as a school and shapes the experience of a Weissman education. Our faculty members exemplify this commitment in their own work, which includes distinguished contributions to their fields; and we aim to create an environment in which research, scholarship, and creative activity can flourish.

The Weissman Legacy

On February 23, 1998, the part of Baruch College then known as the School of Liberal Arts & Sciences was renamed the Mildred and George Weissman School of Arts & Sciences. The change was in honor of the Weissmans’ $10 million donation, the largest cash gift that City University of New York had ever received.

Born in the Bronx, Mr. Weissman (pictured) graduated from Townsend Harris High School, a now defunct public “prep school” for City College. He earned a bachelor’s degree in 1939 from City College’s Bernard Baruch School of Business, where he was the Editor-in-Chief of the school’s newspaper, The Ticker.

The Weissmans gifted the liberal arts school because they believed Baruch should prepare students for life through the study of liberal arts rather than focus solely on teaching students to run businesses. “It’s the well-rounded person who goes on to live a fruitful personal life as well as a corporate life,” he said.

“Arts and sciences are the bloodstream that course through the entire body of knowledge and through our civilization.”

Today, The Weissman School of Arts and Sciences is a school with the atmosphere of a small college and the resources of a major public university. Weissman has a dynamic, collegial, and nationally recognized faculty of more than 200 full-time members organized into 13 departments. It offers personalized, supportive attention to its 2,600 majors, as well as unique programs linking the arts and sciences with business and public affairs. Weissman is one of three schools comprising Baruch College, which has become the largest and most diverse school of its kind in the country.