New York, NY – Columbia Business School today announced the establishment of the Tamer Institute for Social Enterprise and Climate Change, a transformative new campus institute that will address the immediate need for climate research and education in business to accelerate the decarbonization of the global economy . Made possible through support from Sandra and Tony Tamer, the groundbreaking new Institute will dramatically enhance the volume of research and thought leadership that Columbia Business School contributes to the challenge of climate and sustainability. The Institute will also continue the previous activities of the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise, which was established in 2015 to educate leaders to use business knowledge, entrepreneurial skills, and management tools to address social and environmental challenges.
“In this urgent moment for the climate crisis, effective business leadership is essential for our global response. The momentous elevation of the Tamer Institute will transform our capacity to address the climate crisis through our forward-thinking research and curriculum,” said Costis Maglaras, Dean and the David and Lyn Silfen Professor of Business at Columbia Business School. “We are tremendously grateful to Sandra and Tony Tamer for their vision and expanding their commitment to social enterprise to help solve the dire impacts of climate change.”
The Tamer Institute will galvanize Columbia Business School’s climate and sustainability work by convening interdisciplinary perspectives on the climate crisis from across Columbia University’s campus, including the Climate School, the School of International and Public Affairs, and the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. The innovative Institute will also leverage the University’s far-reaching network to convene key organizations and businesses and equip business leaders and policy makers with actionable strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and global warming.
“Business is the key to getting to a net zero economy, and business leaders must acquire research-based, interdisciplinary perspectives to address climate change and other social issues within their industries,” said Tony Tamer, Founder and Executive Chairman of H.I.G. Capital. “Columbia Business School has earned an outstanding reputation in shaping the field of social impact and climate change, and we are proud to support their path-breaking work.”
Sandra Tamer said, “As we invest in innovative ways to create a more sustainable future, Columbia Business School has already proven its commitment to developing the research and curriculum to equip business leaders to address this defining issue of our time. We are overjoyed to catalyze their innovative work on climate and social enterprise through the creation of this timely Institute.”
The creation of the Institute builds on Dean Costis Maglaras’s long standing dedication to climate knowledge and leadership in the field of business. Columbia Business School designed and launched a first-of-its-kind open-source climate curriculum at COP28 with faculty at leading universities to accelerate the teaching of climate change in business schools globally. Recently, the School also launched the Climate Knowledge Initiative (CKI) to promote sector-by-sector solutions to help businesses achieve net-zero carbon emissions. CKI’s initial focus is on how steel companies can adopt decarbonization technologies to meet fast-approaching emission-cutting goals. Columbia Business School has offered courses in this area for over a decade, which will form the basis of a new collaboration with Columbia’s Climate School to offer a master’s degree in Climate Finance. The School is home to many leading experts in the climate change field including Professors Gernot Wagner, Shivaram Rajgopal, Silvia Bellezza, and Bruce Usher. Columbia Business School’s commitment to addressing the global climate crisis is leading to more practitioners in the field, exemplified by 2021 LinkedIn analysis by the Financial Times which shows the School is a leader in producing MBA students who enter sustainability careers.
The new Institute builds on the work of Raymond Horton and Dan Wang, who continues to lead the Institute’s social enterprise efforts.
“This generous and impactful donation will accelerate Columbia Business School’s work on climate and social issues. Thanks to Sandra and Tony, the Institute will provide essential research and tools to business leaders to address the climate crisis, ” said Bruce Usher, Professor of Professional Practice and the Elizabeth B. Strickler '86 and Mark T. Gallogly '86 Faculty Director of the Tamer Institute for Social Enterprise and Climate Change at Columbia Business School.