South Carolina Business Review

The challenges of being number one in international business degrees

By Mike Switzer

Published July 16, 2025 at 6:30 AM EDT

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Rohit Verma, dean of the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina in Columbia.

For the past 36 years, our next guest’s business school has ranked in the top three nationally for its International MBA program, including the last 12 straight years as No. 1. The business school also has had the No. 1 nationally ranked undergraduate international business program for 26 consecutive years. Mike Switzer interviews Rohit Verma, dean of the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina in Columbia.

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Mike Switzer

After almost 20 years, Mike Switzer retired from Wells Fargo Securities in 2001 as Senior Vice President/Investment Officer and Certified Portfolio Manager. In 1999, he and his wife, Maggie, purchased and operated for eight years the Baskin Robbins ice cream store on Forest Drive in Columbia. They grew the store from a bottom-tier operation in the Baskin Robbins franchise system to one in the top 5% nationwide within three years, tripling sales along the way. While operating the ice cream store, Mike and Maggie received patents for a portable ice cream sink and fold-down sneezeguard they invented and in 2002 started Magnolia Carts, an ice cream cart manufacturing company, which they sold in 2013.

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