BUSINESS--The "glass ceiling" literally shattered at Mills College, materializing the 22-year-old metaphor by breaking through the symbolic impediment to women's success and serving as a platform to announce a new name for the College's MBA program: the Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of Business. The newly named Lokey Graduate School of Business is the first MBA program designed for women in the West, and one of only two in the country.

The event, entitled "Breaking Barriers," celebrated Mills' accomplishments of breaking barriers and preparing women for leadership for more than 150 years. With assistance from Mills President Janet L. Holmgren and lead donor Lorry I. Lokey, current Mills MBA student Jackie Antig climbed a ladder and broke a six-foot by 12-foot glass ceiling made from Hollywood-style breakaway glass. Columnist Ellen Goodman added her perspective at the event.

While the nature of the "glass ceiling" has evolved since the phrase was used in a 1986 Wall Street Journal article, it still exists, Holmgren said. In fact, women still comprise less than three percent of CEOs in Fortune 500 companies, as reported in Fortune's annual list. The Mills MBA Program was specifically designed to train women to enter the highest levels of management while simultaneously welcoming them into an extensive network of female professionals. The combination of tangible skills and invaluable personal connections empowers Mills graduates with the ability to break the glass ceiling in any field, and in any organization.

Holmgren and Nancy Thornborrow, Dean of the Lokey Graduate School of Business, are strong advocates of gender-focused education. It was Thornborrow who successfully led the charge to keep Mills a women's college during a 1990 student-led strike.

"Our mission today is as relevant as it was in 1852 and in 1990: to prepare women for leadership roles," Thornborrow said. Thornborrow believes that to shatter the metaphorical glass ceiling, women must enter the workforce empowered with the fundamentals of how to manage people and numbers. Those skills begin with the right tools and an educational curriculum that meets women's needs. The Mills curriculum has a strong underpinning of economics, which Thornborrow believes is essential for ultimate business success.

The new Business School was named for Lorry I. Lokey, the founder of Business Wire and a Mills College Trustee. Lokey sold Business Wire to Berkshire Hathaway in 2006, and credits his business success to the many talented women he employed throughout the growth and evolution of his company. He has long been a champion of women in the workplace and is a noted philanthropist in the educational arena. His daughter graduated from Mills in 1985.

"This gift is an investment in the future because education and women's advancement are the future," Lokey said. "Mills gives women the opportunities they dream of and empowers them to work on eliminating discrimination against women."

Mills College, founded in 1852, is an independent liberal arts college serving 900 undergraduate women and 500 graduate women and men. The College is ranked as one of the top colleges in the West by U.S. News & World Report and one of the Best 366 Colleges by the Princeton Review: www.mills.edu.