Harvard Business School To Construct New Executive Education Center
Harvard Business School broke ground on its campus for the construction of a new Executive Education facility—the Ruth Mulan Chu Chao Center—on Thursday, April 24, 2014. The ceremony included remarks by Harvard University President Drew Gilpin Faust, HBS Dean Nitin Nohria, former U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao (MBA 1979), Deputy Chairman of Foremost Group Angela Chao (AB 1994; MBA 2001), Former Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), and the Honorable Cui Tiankai, China’s ambassador to the United States.
The Ruth Mulan Chu Chao Center, a 90,000-square-foot, four-story structure that will contain meeting rooms, office and dining facilities as well as classrooms, is the result of a $40 million gift from a Dr. James Si-Cheng Chao and Family Foundation. This generous gift was given in tribute to the life and legacy of the late Ruth Mulan Chu Chao, beloved matriarch of this most prominent and accomplished Chinese-American family. Continue reading…
MIT Sloan Students Among Semi-Finalists for the MIT Clean Energy Prize
Several teams featuring current MIT Sloan students are included among the semifinalists of the seventh annual MIT Clean Energy Prize competition. The MIT Clean Energy Prize is open to graduate and undergraduate students enrolled at least half-time at any university in the United States. It is a student-organized business plan competition where teams can submit their own clean energy or technology ideas into one of three categories: Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy, or Infrastructure & Resources. Over a period of several months, the teams are mentored and critiqued by panels of venture capitalists, CEOs, lawyers, and academics.
This year, more than 60 teams from 24 universities across the United States competed in the MIT Clean Energy Prize. Following the first round of judging, 21 teams were invited to enter the semifinal round of the competition. These teams will receive mentoring, a $1,000 stipend, and access to MIT Clean Energy Prize resources such as partnerships with startup accelerators and a wide network of clean energy experts. Continue reading…
Rutgers Business School Honors Founding Director of the Executive MBA Program
Rutgers Business School Professor Emeritus Philip Shaak, the founding director of the Rutgers Executive MBA program, was honored on April 4 during an EMBA luncheon at Rutgers Business School.
Shaak, who once served as an associate dean, said he looks back at EMBA as the most exciting period of his career. “I really liked teaching and that was the most exciting teaching time for me,” he said. “I was extremely fortunate in my career.”
Rutgers current EMBA director, professor Farrokh Langdana, said that he and Assistant Dean Kathleen Connelly Harmon were “honored to be part of (Shaak’s) legacy to RBS.”
“Kathleen and I have often told Professor Shaak that the Rutgers Executive MBA Program has been able to garner all of its global rankings because it was built on the shoulders of giants, such as Phil Shaak and his team,” Langdana said.
During the event, Professor Shaak took some time to talk about EMBA’s early days, the program’s growth and his time at RBS. He described the beginning of the program in 1987, when a tremendous marketing effort was required, and compared it to the ease of attracting candidates today, based on the success and high rankings the program has achieved, as well as the quality of the faculty and teaching. Shaak emphasized that he and his team were able to attract very bright, professional students who were coming back to school after many years of substantive professional experience, and that created a collaborative learning environment for the program. According the Shaak, “One of the key parts of EMBA is it’s not simply a sterile academic exercise. There’s a blending of the academic world with the real world of business. That blending is what makes the program so successful.”
The Wharton School Welcomes the Vanguard Group as Senior Partner on the Pension Research Council
The Pension Research Council at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania announced that the Vanguard Group, a PRC member since 1999, has rejoined the Council as a Senior Partner of the Council for 2014.
According to Stephen P. Utkus, Director of the Center for Retirement Research at the Vanguard Group, “The Pension Research Council of the Wharton School has made significant contributions to understanding how people worldwide prepare for retirement, and we are delighted to support this effort. We look forward to working with our academic and business partners to advance research, explore policy issues, and develop innovative approaches to retirement in the United States and abroad.”
Olivia S. Mitchell, Professor of Insurance/Risk Management and Applied Economics/Policy, and Executive Director of the Wharton’s Pension Research Council at the University of Pennsylvania, said: “The Council is delighted to continue its close research relationship with the Vanguard Group. We look forward to building new knowledge together on global retirement security.”
The Vanguard Group is one of the world’s largest investment management companies, with $2.5 trillion in U.S. mutual fund assets. Founder and former Chairman John C. Bogle, who, early in his career, attended classes at the University of Pennsylvania, is credited with the creation of the first index fund available to individual investors.
The Pension Research Council sponsors interdisciplinary research on private pension and social security programs, as well as related benefit plans in the United States and around the world. It supports scholarly research on global aging, successful retirement, and retirement income security while facilitating access to research and data critical to the investigation of retirement security. The council is committed to generating debate on key policy issues affecting pensions and other employee benefits.
Smeal College of Business Announces Alumni Gift to Department of Accounting
Penn State alumni Steve and Lyn Reeves have made a $634,000 commitment to the Smeal College of Business, which will establish the Reeves Family Career Professorship and the Reeves Family Student Success Fund, for the Department of Accounting.
The Reeves Family Early Career Professorship will support the work of a promising young accounting faculty member with funding for research and teaching at a critical point in his or her career. The Reeves Family Student Success Fund will provide resources for students to participate in internships, study abroad, and other experiences that enhance their college career, as well as underwrite activities of the college’s accounting-related student organizations.
“We have long believed in the role of higher education in allowing individuals to realize their potential,” said Steve. “We have been fortunate to enjoy post-Smeal success and are very pleased to be in a position to give back and enable other to benefit from the opportunities that we did.”
According to Charles H. Whitman, John and Becky Surma Deal of Smeal Business School, “These generous gifts from Steve and Lyn will go a long way toward ensuring the continued strength and growth of our highly regarded Department of Accounting. Both the Early Career Professorship and the Student Success Fund will create opportunities for students and faculty that would not have been otherwise possible.”
Babson Business School’s student and alumni entrepreneurs compete in B.E.T.A Challenge
Eighteen businesses helmed by undergraduates, graduate students and alumni have been selected as semifinalists to compete in Babson’s College’s Babson Entrepreneurial Thought and Action (BETA) Challenge on April 2, with finalists announced on April 4th and presenting their ventures on April 10 during Founder’s Day activities on campus.
Winners in three categories ─ alumni entrepreneurs, undergraduate and graduate student entrepreneurs ─ will each win a grand prize of $20,000 in cash and “services in kind” donations from corporate sponsors. In addition, $2,500 will be awarded to the two other finalist ventures in each of the three competitions. B.E.T.A. Challenge entrepreneurs must demonstrate success in reaching major milestones achieved through action.
Six of the finalist businesses are from current students at the F. W. Olin Graduate School of Business, and range from apps such as BlueGift (Jad Antouh M’14), which allows users to create social funding campaigns in order to give their birthday gifts to a social cause, HigherMe (Rob Hunter M ’14 and Evan Lodge M’14) both a website and app that gives prospective employees the chance to submit one-minute videos to retail establishments, thus giving prospective employers a glimpse of the interpersonal qualities needed to succeed in retail environments, or micro businesses such as FedWell Pet Foods (Emily Lagasse M’15) which seeks to provide better quality food, made with the highest quality ingredients, to dogs.
Corporate sponsors for the event include Samuel Goldstein & Co., Pepper Hamilton LLP and Pierce Atwood LLP. Prizes will be awarded on April 10th after the finalists’ presentations.
