As of July 1, Professor Costis Maglaras will join John Donaldson as co-director of Columbia Business School’s PhD program. Maglaras has served as the David and Lyn Silfen Professor of Business in the Decision, Risk, and Operations Division since 2009. His appointment will effectively double the amount of faculty time available at the PhD program level. Donaldson has served as academic director of the doctoral program since 2000, the same year he was appointed the Mario J. Gabelli Professor of Finance.
"The PhD program is the lifeblood of our School and our profession," said Dean Glenn Hubbard. "During the past decade, John has been a true ‘gentleman and scholar,’ thoughtfully leading the program and giving generously of his time to current and prospective PhD students. The time is now right to invest additional resources in the program, enabling us to implement a robust set of enhancements more quickly than might otherwise be possible."
Throughout the coming year, Donaldson and Maglaras will work closely with the School’s divisions and School leaders to evaluate the overall structure of the program. As part of the assessment, they will conduct a thorough review of PhD curricula and milestone requirements, work to enrich PhD student orientation, and increase the program’s online presence. The co-directors will also work to implement an adjustment in stipend levels for incoming students, explore a potential increase in the overall size of the program, and roll out new outreach and alumni relations initiatives.
Maglaras came to Columbia Business School after earning his PhD from Stanford in 1998. During his time at the School, he has successfully mentored a number of PhD candidates. His research focuses on quantitative pricing and revenue management; the economics, design, and operations of service systems; and financial engineering. Maglaras’s recent work has explored the application of quantitative modeling in the pricing, risk management, and valuation of multi-unit real estate portfolios and in the design of portfolio trading systems and algorithms.