Stanford Salutes Fallen Alum, and More – San Francisco News
From new courses to lasting tributes, San Francisco business schools have had no shortage of headlines in recent weeks. Here are some of the biggest stories out of the Bay Area.
A Lasting Tribute to Jack McDonald — Stanford Newsroom
Nearly 500 Stanford Graduate School of Business faculty, alumni, and associates recently held a two-part celebration in remembrance of John “Jack” McDonald, who passed away earlier this year. McDonald, BS ’60, MBA ’62, Ph.D. ’67, taught more than 10,000 MBA and Executive Education students during his 50-year career.
Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne was among faculty members to speak during the event, highlighted McDonald’s legacy at Stanford.
“Today is a reminder of what a powerful role faculty play in the lives of our students – both while they are on campus, and for the rest of their lives,” Tessier-Lavigne said. “Jack exemplified that influence and impact, across generations.”
After the speakers, Highland Hall, one Stanford’s student housing buildings, was officially renamed to Jack McDonald Hall, while and the GSB Common to the Stanford Investors Common. McDonald Hall, along with the Schwab Residential Center, makes it possible for all first-year MBA students to live on campus if they so choose.
You can read more about McDonald’s legacy and the ceremony here.
In Big Data Course, MBAs Learn How to Second-Guess an AI — Haas News
A new story from the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business highlights a new course offered to MBAs, “Big Data and Better Decisions.” Co-taught by Assoc. Prof. Jonathan Kolstad and economist Paul Gertler, the class covers topics in advanced data science. The instructors hope that their course will help ingrain a question-the-status-quo mindset in their students so that they can then bring these data-driven initiatives to their organizations.
“There’s a growing need within companies for MBAs trained in data analytics,” Gertler said. “This class is designed to prepare students to be part of the modern labor force and leaders of industry.”
You can lean more about Kolstad, Gertler, and the new courses here.
Alan Taylor Speaks at Nobel Symposium on Money and Banking — UC Davis News
UC Davis Graduate School of Management professor Alan Taylor recently delivered an address on the “indebtedness of governments, firms, and households” at the Nobel Symposium on Money and Banking. Taylor expressed how learning from past mistakes that lead to the recent Great Recession are key in ensuring the same meltdown doesn’t happen again.
“Understanding how and why private debt crises predictably occur with consistent patterns and grave collateral damage is to my mind the big unsolved research question today in macro(economics),” he said during his address.
You can watch the entire lecture below:
