School News

In June, Charles Calomiris, the Henry Kaufman Professor of Financial Institutions, was appointed the new faculty director of the Program for Financial Studies. He succeeds Laurie Hodrick, the A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Economics, who served as founding director of the program and guided its establishment and activities since the program’s inception in 2010.

It’s been exactly one year since the Columbia Startup Lab opened its doors at 175 Varick Street as a shared workspace for budding Columbia entrepreneurs. With several profitable businesses established and a full roster for the new cohort (the second contingent started on June 1), you might say the lab is a startup success story itself.

On May 5, the Office of Student Affairs, Dean’s Office, and Student Government together announced the winners of the 2015 Service Awards for Faculty and Administration.

The Dean’s Prizes for Teaching Excellence were established by a gift from George Wiegers ’61, who is the cofounder of Wiegers Capital Partners. The prizes are awarded for teaching excellence in three categories — core courses, elective courses, and by members of the adjunct faculty.

The transformative gift, made by Morgan Stanley and alumni and friends at the firm, will create a Morgan Stanley Suite in each of Columbia Business School’s two new Manhattanville buildings.

A record-breaking 2,500 alumni, guests, faculty and staff members, and students attended this year’s Reunion Weekend, which took place April 17–19 in Uris Hall, with a welcome reception at Guastavino's event space in Midtown. This tops last year’s gathering of 2,400 attendees. 

On July 1, Damon Phillips, the James P. Gorman Professor of Business, will assume the role of co-director of Columbia Business School's Tamer Center for Social Enterprise. Professor Phillips is preceded in the role by Professor Ray Fisman, who has contributed significantly to the School’s social enterprise efforts for several years. Professor Phillips will serve alongside Bruce Usher, Executive in Residence and adjunct professor of finance and economics.

The summit drew roughly 75 attendees and featured keynoter Ethan Brown ’08, co-founder and CEO of Beyond Meat, and four food-expert panelists.

Fabrizio Ferri, the Regina Pitaro Associate Professor of Business and Accounting at Columbia Business School, has won the 2015 Best Paper Award from the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. 

In honor of his 50th reunion and Columbia Business School’s upcoming centennial, Lord Irvine Laidlaw ’65 has made a generous donation of $2 million to the School.