MBA Students to Ask Buffett Questions on FOX Business Network
Look out for MetroMBA’s coverage of this story next Tuesday, May 6th:
MBA students at University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, New York University’s Stern School of Business and University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business will have a chance to ask Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Charlie Munger questions during a televised interview with FOX Business Network anchor Liz Claman. The interview will be on Monday, May 5th from 8:30-9:30am/ CT. Claman will also be taking questions live via Twitter using the #askLiz prompt. An excerpt from last year’s interview featured a Columbia Business School student asking Buffett about the impact of interest rates. Wakeforest University School of Business and Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business were the other two campuses featured on last year’s program.
Check back for our story next week!
Columbia Business School Mourns Professor Emeritus Gerald Brady
Columbia Business School mourns the passing of Gerald Brady ’58, a Columbia University faculty member for more than 30 years and a professor emeritus of the Business School, who died at home on April 16 at age 84.
Brady first joined Columbia as an undergraduate student, earning his BA in 1951. He was a dedicated athlete and played on the Columbia basketball team through his freshman and sophomore years. Brady was enlisted in the United States Army and served in the Korean War during combat as a first lieutenant and an anti-aircraft artillery officer. He also taught soldiers English, math, and other academic subjects. Upon discharge from the army, he returned to Columbia, where he earned his LLB from Columbia Law School in 1957 and his MS from Columbia Business School in 1958. Continue reading…
Columbia Business School Announces Exclusive Partnership with NY 2014
Columbia Business School announced that its entrepreneurship experts will be available at NY TechDay 2014 to consult with entrepreneurs who visit the Columbia Business School booth. Using a model based on speed dating events, CBS startup gurus will offer ‘Speed Mentoring’ to budding entrepreneurs. Visitors will have the opportunity to deliver their best one-minute pitch to the CBS gurus and receive 2-3 minutes of expert feedback. The School, which has signed on as NY TechDay’s exclusive higher education partner, has also chosen nine successful young alumni startup ventures to showcase at the event, including Betterment, Hopscotch, Kookopa, MphRX, Necklish, PERK.LA, Shake, Compass, and Yarly.
“There are so many undiscovered entrepreneurs who have brilliant ideas but who feel stuck because they’re unsure how to go from idea to execution,” said Vince Ponzo, director of the Eugene Lang Entrepreneurship Center at Columbia Business School and one of the experts who will be providing on–site advice during the event. “Columbia Business School is rapidly becoming a preeminent force in the NYC startup scene, and our goal is to be a resource for all of these potential startups and help them identify the right next step. I’m very much looking forward to speed–mentoring anyone looking for help at TechDay.” Taking place on April 24th at Pier 92 in New York City, NY TechDay will bring together an estimated 10,000 attendees comprised of entrepreneurs, angel investors, venture capitalists, and members of the media.
Columbia Business School Announces Recipients of the 2014 Eccles Prize
Columbia University Business School Professors Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya have been awarded the 2014 George S. Eccles Prize for Excellence in Economic Writing. They were recognized for their recent book, Why Growth Matters (PublicAffairs, 2013), in which the professors argue that the best way to bring prosperity to India’s poor population is to implement liberal government policies to encourage economic growth.
Professors Bhagwati and Panagariya will be recognized on Monday, May 12, from 7-9:30 p.m. with a ceremony and live Q&A. The event will be held in the Faculty Room in Low Library on Columbia Business School’s Morningside campus.
George S. Eccles ’22 initially established the prize at CBS over 25 years ago to foster interest in and spur public discussion of economic theory, practice, and issues. Between 1986 and 1993, it was awarded annually to esteemed figures such as Henry Kaufman, Maryann Keller, and Paul Krugman, for their works bridging theory and practice. It was given again in 1998, when Bhagwati, then of MIT, was recognized for his book, Stream of Windows (The MIT Press, 1999).
In 2010, the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation inaugurated an annual research award in finance and economics for Columbia Business School faculty members and reestablished the prize for economic writing. Last year, Paul Tetlock, the Roger F. Murray Associate Professor of Finance, was honored for his research on the impact of investors’ collective attention on stock prices. Also in 2013, Professor Daron Acemoglu of MIT and Professor James A. Robinson of Harvard took the Excellence in Economic Writing Award for their book, Why Nations Fail (Crown Business, 2012); Henry Kissinger received the award in 2012 for his book, Henry Kissinger on China (The Penguin Press HC, 2011).
Wall Street’s Allure Dims for New York MBA Grads
Traditionally, MBA programs have been known for sending many graduates into the world of finance, and in New York City this means Wall Street; however, recent trends indicate that New York MBA graduates are opting out of the Wall Street track for other industries.
The luxury goods industry is one example. Known as an industry where newcomers typically have to “work their way up,” luxury goods hasn’t historically been a magnet for recent MBA graduates. Yet in recent years, the student interest in this industry has risen, whereas interest in the financial sector has fallen. In 2012, according to Crain’s New York, only 22% of NYU Stern’s MBA graduates went into investment banking, as opposed to 28% the year before. At Columbia Business School, well known for a finance program that has been home to investing legends like Benjamin Graham and Warren Buffett, the number of graduates entering the finance industry dropped from 50% to 42% between 2011 and 2012.
Meanwhile, the number of CBS students getting jobs in luxury retail upon graduation has doubled between 2011 and 2012, and the retail and luxury goods student club now has 200 members and counting. In addition to gaining recognition as a “hot new industry,” luxury retail offers stability that a career in finance may not.
Not only is interest in luxury retail growing on the East Coast, but also interest in the arts and entertainment business; Pace University’s new major in this area drew applicants in record numbers this past year, resulting in an increase in enrollment of 180%.
While finance remains one of the most popular industries for MBAs, these trends may augur a move towards a more even industry distribution of MBA graduates.
Columbia Alumni Give $40 Million for New Campus
Arthur Samberg and Mario Gabelli, both 1967 graduates of Columbia Business School, have pledged a combined $40 million to go towards the school’s new Manhattanville campus, about a mile from the main campus in Morningside Heights.
Samberg is the chairman of the private jet charter company JetSuite, and Gabelli is the chairman and CEO of GAMCO Investors. Not only did they graduate together, but both alumni sit on Columbia’s Board of Overseers.
Between this gift and generous other alumni donations, Columbia has raised almost $500 million for construction of the new campus. The campus will include two brand new buildings named after other generous donors, Ron Perelman and Henry Kravis. These facilities will be a fresh alternative from Uris Hall, the nearly fifty year old building out of which CBS operates, and Warren Hall, which CBS shares with Columbia Law School.
The new Columbia Business School campus is projected to open in 2018.
