Hosted by Dean Doug Guthrie, the event will explore the role of creative leaders in bringing together government, the private sector, and academic institutions to solve society’s most intractable problems.

Michael Kaiser Interview Highlights

Click here to watch the full Michael Kaiser interview.

Click below to view photos from the interview and reception.

“Philanthropy” examined modern civic leadership through the lens of special guest Paull Young, Director of Digital at charity: water, a non-profit company bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. The company is widely recognized for its innovative philanthropy. It stands by its 100% model-all donations go directly to bringing clean water to those in need; it also connects donors to the projects they help fund with a full report of the exact community they helped, including photos and GPS coordinates. charity: water was recently awarded a $5 million Google Global Impact Award to support water-monitoring technologies.

Paull Young Interview Highlights

Click here to watch the full Paull Young interview.

Click below to view photos from the interview and reception.

Research by Lusardi and colleague Carlo de Bassa Scheresberg for the National Bureau of Economic Research on growth in high-cost loans was the focus of a story (4/25) in The Washington Post’s Business section.

Lusardi and Scheresberg’s research is also referenced, and Lusardi quoted, in a Wall Street Journal story (4/24) on teenagers and economics.

Lusardi was interviewed by The Chicago Tribune (4/21) on the value of financial literacy programs.

Lusardi’s testimony before a U.S. Senate subcommittee on financial literacy was referenced in stories on numerous media outlets, including Voxxi (4/27):

Maddox was recommended by more than two dozen former and present GWSB colleagues and students. She will accept the award in June in Phoenix at the federation’s national conference.

Carson, professor of management science, and Winslow, professor of management, were named Emeriti Professors.  Beales, professor of strategic management and public policy, and Hassan, professor of marketing, were honored as “Silver Anniversary Faculty” for their 25 years of service to the School.

The luncheon will provide an opportunity to hear about successes achieved by entrepreneurs from emerging economies, and speakers who work to enhance entrepreneurial communities around the globe. Through an interactive platform, participants will learn about innovation and how diaspora groups to create new opportunities.

To register, go here.
 

Kate Stockrahm

Job title:  Events Coordinator

Job duties:  All things GWSB commencement-related.

How long have you worked at GW:  Three months.

What’s best, so far, about working here:  The people — and all of the leftover food items brought to our office (for my rather immediate consumption).

What’s something your co-workers do not know about you:  I will always accept a bacon-topped cupcake. Always. (In fairness, I believe they do know this about me. However, I am not going to turn down the opportunity to request more bacon-topped cupcakes.)

Where did you grow up:  Detroit, Michigan.

Family:  My father, Dan; my mother, Pier; my younger brother, Alex; my dog, Sparkles; and my cats, Puma and Special Agent Jack Bauer.

What do you enjoy doing on the weekend:  going to concerts, playing soccer or volleyball, relaxing with friends.

Favorite vacation spots:  Home.

A (current) favorite book:  This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz.

A favorite movie:  Sin City.

A favorite food:  Steak (with a side of more steak.)

E-mail:  kstock@gwu.edu

Phone:  202-994-8518

Kyung Won Na

Former Korean congresswoman Kyung Won Na spoke at GWSB last month about her experience as chairwoman of the recent 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games in South Korea – the most successful winter games in Special Olympics’ history. Na also discussed her experience in her country’s congress, and the national impact of the recent Special Olympics, which served as a test case for South Korea’s hosting of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang.

Na, who has a doctorate in international law, was a member of the 17^th and 18^th National Assembly of Joong-gu in Seoul. Prior to her election, she was national spokesperson for the ruling National Party. Na is a member of Special Olympics International’s board of directors and a co-representative of Korea Parents Association for the Disabled.

To hear an interview with Na on the importance of the Special Olympics, go here.

Those interested should submit their intent to present by May 10.

Service science is an emerging field on the interdisciplinary study of service.  It can encompass aspects of operations management, marketing, service research, information systems and computing, economics, and organization.

Those interested in submitting an abstract should e-mail their first and last names and e-mail addresses to informs.ssc@gmail.com by the deadline to receive a confirmed invitation to submit online.

Brazilian civil servants wrapped up a semester of study through GWSB’s Center for Latin American Issues’ Minerva program last month.

A group of 10 Latin American civil servants completed a semester of training on modern market economies through GWSB’s Center for Latin American Issues (CLAI).  Their program was capped by an April 23 ceremony in which they received certificates and heard from Dean Doug Guthrie.

The Minerva program, named for the Roman goddess of wisdom, is designed to improve public employees’ understanding of economics and finance, both in theory and operation.  It’s primarily aimed at civil servants with responsibility for public finances at the federal, state or local level.

Established by CLAI and a group of Brazilian entrepreneurs in 1994, the program was created for mid-level Brazilian career public servants in an effort to improve the effectiveness of that country’s civil service.  It has since expanded to include other countries, although only Brazilians took part in the most recent course.

So far, the program has graduated over 333 civil servants from Brazil alone. Offered twice a year at GWSB, it covers concepts of economics, finance, economic policy-making and regulation.

The program is funded by a combination of public and private funds from Brazil.

Annamaria Lusardi was honored at an April dinner with the 2013 William E. Odom Visionary Leadership Award from the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit coalition of organizations that works to advance financial literacy among students in pre-kindergarten through college. The award was announced earlier this year.

Annamaria Lusardi, Denit Trust Distinguished Scholar in Economics and Accountancy, had a bleak message for a U.S. Senate subcommittee last week:  Americans are woefully unprepared for making decisions about money.

Lusardi, who is academic director of GWSB’s Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center (G-FLEC), testified on April 24 at the U.S. Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee’s Subcommittee on Children and Families’ hearing on “The Economic Importance of Financial Literacy Education For Students.”

“I am here today to tell you that the vast majority of Americans do not have the financial knowledge they need to fully participate in the economy or to make informed decisions about their own financial futures,” said Lusardi, an advocate of teaching school children about personal finances.

“This reality has implications for their lives and for the economic health of the country,” she said.

You can follow Lusardi on Twitter.

For more on the hearing, go here.

Meanwhile, the Center’s spring Financial Literacy Seminar Series (FLSS) continued with a May 2 presentation by Jing Cai, assistant professor of economics at the University of Michigan, on “Social Networks and the Decision to Insure.”

The FLSS is a joint initiative of the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) and the G-FLEC, formerly the Global Center for Financial Literacy. For more information on the series, and links to papers, go here.

For questions, contact the Center at finlitseries@gwu.edu.

GWSB undergraduate students Zach Herman and Dylan Fox took the grand prize at a TCU case competition with their fundraising platform for small organizations, Crowdvance.

GWSB undergraduate students Dylan Fox and Zach Herman won the $15,000 grand prize in the Richards Barrentine Values and Ventures™ Business Plan Competition hosted by the Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University.

The annual competition for college undergraduates is aimed at rewarding socially conscious businesses.

The GWSB team won for Crowdvance, an online fundraising tool that helps small organizations raise money.  Crowdvance beat out 27 other startups from universities around the country and overseas.

Founded in 2011, Crowdvance has already helped several organizations improve their fundraising tactics, including the GW Womens Field Hockey team. Crowdvance helped the team raise $1,000 in under four weeks for its annual charity game for breast cancer.

Crowdvance helps small organizations, such as youth soccer leagues, student groups and small nonprofits, raise funds by rewarding donors with deals such as discounted concert tickets or apparel from partner companies.

GWSB students also scored big in other recent competitions:

• Capitol Advertising, the undergraduate advertising club, took first place in the recent District 2 American Advertising Federation (AAF) National Student Advertising Competition.  (The AAF has 15 districts, each of which is comprised of one to five states.)  GWSB undergraduate students Gabbi Baker, Jamie Clark, Peter Cook, Sevara Mallyn, and Hunter Pritchard now head to the national competition in June at the AAF conference in Phoenix.
  

  GWSB undergraduates advance to a national advertising competition in June after winning their district competition.

• GWSB students finished in the international top 10 at the 2013 DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America)  International Career Development Conference’s global case study competition.  As part of the conference, students participated in educational sessions and rounds of competition across 24 categories. This year, GWSB had three times as many finalists, and over twice as many students who placed in the international top 10, as in previous years.  Here are the results:

GWSB undergraduates finished in the international Top 10 in this year’s DECA global case competition.

International Top 10 Winners:  Dominic Newmann and Paul Bryne, juniors, jnternational marketing; Marissa Wiener, junior, corporate finance; Conor Travers, junior, accounting; Lucas Machamer, freshman, human resources management.

International First, Second, and Third Place Winners:  Usama Kahn, junior, third place, corporate finance; Maxwell Tingle, freshman, third place, sales meeting management; Joshua Lodestro, senior, second place, marketing management; Gregory Lidrbauch, sophomore, second place, corporate finance.

Dean Doug Guthrie congratulates the 2013 recipient of the Business Gives Back alumni award, Bill Ziegler.

Business Gives Back (BGB), a student-led initiative that celebrates GWSB’s commitment to promoting responsible corporate citizenship by fostering partnerships between business, alumni, students, and their communities, honored an alumnus and a student at its annual gala.

The distinguished alumnus award was presented to Bill Ziegler, BBA, ’81; managing director and chief operating officer of Talengin, a talent development company that contributes 25 percent of its profits to global organizations that improve opportunities for children.

The student impact award went to Meradith Leebrick, global MBA, `14, for her work with Abriendo Mente, a community development initiative that empowers rural Costa Rican communities by providing educational, technological and social programs to those who need it most.

Associate Dean for Graduate Programs Liesl Riddle joins Meradith Leebrick, winner of the 2013 Business Gives Back student award, at the BGB gala. (Photos by Julie Woodford)

At the gala, GWSB’s global MBA students joined with professors, alumni and members of the Washington, D.C., business community to celebrate responsible business while raising funds for BGB. This year’s gala was sponsored by KPMG, Fidelity Investments, and Relay Foods.

Now in its third year, BGB was launched by a group of global MBA students to capitalize on the diversity of backgrounds, talents and interests of the student body. BGB is supported through contributions from GWSB community, including student groups, the administration and corporate sponsorships.

Follow BGB on Twitter.

Members of the GWSB winning team in the Pfizer case competition are, (L to R), Vina Verman, Eric Miller, Johnny Samuel, Greg Brace and Amanda Cassiday.

GWSB Team Wins Pfizer Case Competition

A team of GWSB global MBA students took first place in a Pfizer case competition for their proposal on overcoming barriers to getting adults around the world vaccinated against disease.

First-year GMBA students Greg Brace, Amanda Cassiday, Eric Miller, John Samuel and Vina Verman represented GWSB at the competition on April 20.

They beat teams from Harvard, Columbia, Dartmouth, Georgetown and a number of other top schools to win a $3,000 award; Harvard came in second and Columbia, third.

“It was a lot of work but we came up with a great plan for Pfizer and had an amazing time making the presentation and interacting with the Pfizer judges,” said Brace.

The case theme was “Global Barriers to Adult Vaccinations.”  The team was required to identify barriers to adult vaccinations and propose a solution for overcoming the barriers.

Cassiday said the challenge was initially hard to approach.

“It asked us to develop a solution to a very global, complex challenge that could not benefit from a ‘one size fits all’ solution,” she said.  Eventually, the team designed a strategy that could be tailored to fit different circumstances and environments.

Cassiday said that GWSB team members’ varied experiences in the pharmaceutical, international development, finance and telecommunications industries provided an advantage, because they all had different strengths — and perspectives — they brought to bear in coming up with a solid proposal.

In addition to winning prize money, the team may enjoy the satisfaction of seeing some of their ideas implemented.  Cassiday said Pfizer has approached them about using some of their proposed strategies in a campaign to be unveiled this summer.

On Friday, April 12, 2013, Dean Doug Guthrie joined Adrian Sannier, Senior Vice President for Product at Pearson, and Paul Schiff Berman, Vice Provost for Online Education and Academic Innovation, for a discussion on the direction of higher education within the context of emerging technologies and innovations. Will MOOCs be the death of education as we have known it or a passing fad?

Bill’s company, Talengin, contributes 25 percent of its profit margins back to society through pro bono work. Meradith is co-founder and executive director of Abriendo Mentes (Opening Minds), a nonprofit in Costa Rica. The organization works to deliver quality education programs to an under-served population in Costa Rica. All proceeds from the event will go to Meradith’s nonprofit.

Dean Guthrie moderates a question-and-answer session with Michael Kaiser of the Kennedy Center.

This month, GWSB’s Conversations on Creative Leadership series continued with presentations on philanthropy and the arts. On April 10, GWSB hosted Paull Young, director of digital at charity:  water, a nonprofit that works to bring clean drinking water to 800 million people worldwide who are without it.

Paull Young of charity: water speaking at GWSB.

On April 17, the featured speaker was Michael Kaiser, president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, who has drawn recognition for leading artistic and cultural organizations out of stagnation and financial difficulties. Over the past 12 years, he has been instrumental in raising the Kennedy Center’s national profile.

The series explores the role of creative leaders in bringing together government, private industry, nonprofits and academic institutions to solve society’s most challenging problems.

Two Washington, D.C., youngsters get a hand from GWSB student Ryan Counihan on Lemonade Day, April 14. GWSB students were instrumental in bringing the effort, which is spreading across the country and teaches kids about entrepreneurship by helping them write business plans for running their own lemonade stands, to Washington for the first time this year.

The paper is published on the website of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Investor Education Foundation, which supports innovative research and educational projects that give underserved Americans financial knowledge and skills.

FINRA is the largest independent regulator for securities firms doing business in the United States.

The paper combines data from the FINRA Investor Education Foundation’s National Financial Capability Study with similar data obtained from eight other countries, including Germany, the Netherlands and Japan.  It compares financial literacy levels across their populations.

Among Lusardi’s findings: financial literacy levels are fairly low across countries, even in places with well-developed markets. In addition, particular groups —notably the young, old, women, unemployed and those with low education levels — have low levels of financial literacy.

The brief highlights these and other findings, discusses implications and suggests the importance of teaching financial literacy in schools.

Read Lusardi’s brief here.

Learn more about the National Financial Capability Study.

GW student and basketball player Jonathan Davis is interviewed about Lemonade Day by WTOP (4/14).

Examiner.com ran a story (4/4) on a China business development trip taken by Guthrie with a group led by D.C. Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Victor L. Hoskins.

Guthrie wrote a column (4/17) on the valuation of China’s currency for Asia Pathways, a blog of the Asian Development Bank Institute.

Joel Renner

Job title:  Manager of Digital Strategy & Career Systems for the F. David Fowler Career Center (FDFCC).

Job duties:  Growing the GWSB and FDFCC brands to further integrate our online presence into the GWSB students’ career path; giving them easier access to the services we provide and better connections to employment opportunities.  I also manage the Center’s online resources:  the website, GWorkSB, and social media presence.

How long have you worked at GW:  Six years at GW; six months at GWSB.

What’s best, so far, about working here:  The creative atmosphere at GWSB is great for generating new ideas.  It keeps me on my toes in current projects and constantly inspires me to think innovatively about my work.

What’s something your co-workers do not know about you:  I design, create and sell jewelry.

Where did you grow up:  North Pole, Alaska.

Family:  My wife, Amy; my dad, Curt; my mom, Margi; and my brother, Kyle, who works at GW’s Elliott School of International Affairs.

Any hobbies?  Cooking, painting and tech stuff (I’m always looking at new gadgets and apps.)

What do you enjoy doing on the weekend:  Playing and watching soccer, going to wineries and grilling out.

Favorite vacation spots:  Madrid, Spain; Alaska (in the summer, of course.)

A favorite book:  The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

A favorite movie:  The Sting.

A favorite food:  Pizza (so many variations.)

E-mail:   jrenner@gwu.edu

“Sonostik”  was proposed by Adam Corman, a resident in emergency medicine at GW Hospital, and Neal Sikka, associate professor and director of innovative practice and telehealth services at GW’s Department of Emergency Medicine.  The winners were announced April 19 at GWSB.

Doctors Neal Sikka (L) and Adam Corman (R) won GW’s 2013 Business Plan Competition with their idea for Sonostik. At center is Ed Martinez, the duo’s mentor.

Sonostik would create innovative tools for employing ultrasound technology at patients’ bedsides for better IV placement.  Corman said Sonostik would have immediate benefits for patients; he and Sikka are looking for a company to develop a prototype, and plan to invest their prize money in developing the product.

On any given day in the emergency room, Corman says he encounters about five patients who, for a variety of reasons ranging from intravenous drug use, to dehydration, to obesity, are difficult to fit with an IV. But some of those patients desperately need IV delivery of fluids and/or medication.

“The people who need it the most become the most difficult to treat,” said Corman. “That’s where our product comes in.”

Sonostik, said Sikka, modifies the design of IV catheters so they can be inserted into a patient’s arm with just one hand, leaving the other free to use an ultrasound machine.  Also, the entire catheter, not just the tip, would be visible.

“You can confirm the placement,” Sikka said.

Ultimately, the duo would like Sonostik to be developed and assembled into kits for easy bedside access and use in hospitals.

For more on Sonostik, and the other 2013 Business Plan winners, go here.

Hossein Fateh

When Hossein Fateh came to GWSB in the 1980s, he didn’t even have a green card. But a series of good decisions, and some good luck, brought him to where he is today:  CEO, co-founder, president and director of DuPont Fabros Technology, Inc.

Fateh, who delivered the 14th Annual Robert P. Maxon Lecture on April 16, traced the story of Dupont Fabros, a Washington, D.C-based real estate investment trust (REIT) and leading owner, developer, operator and manager of wholesale data centers, from its early days to its hugely successful initial public offering (IPO).

“My story has a lot of luck that goes with it,” said Fateh, addressing an audience at GW’s Jack Morton auditorium on the Foggy Bottom campus.

Fateh, who earned a BBA at GWSB in 1990 and an MSF in 1997, successfully led the company through its IPO in 2007, resulting in net proceeds of approximately $678 million.

“I was very lucky over a period of time,” said Fateh. “I was lucky enough to make the right decisions over a long career.”

For instance, early in his career, Fateh recalled losing a job when the company he was working for went bankrupt. Because he didn’t yet have a green card – he has since become a U.S. citizen – he couldn’t find other work, so he threw his lot in with his former employer, who subsequently made a successful investment.

The money generated from that, plus Fateh’s realization that “connectivity was going to be a very large part of the Internet” led to the start of Dupont Fabros.

From there, Fateh started buying up shells of buildings that had been vacated by failed companies.

“These companies were all going out of business and leaving behind millions of dollars in infrastructure,” he said.  He lowered rents to lure new tenants.

Another time, Fateh was running out of money and time bidding against hedge funds and others at a real estate auction in New York City that went on for some 40 hours.

“I thought I had lost a million of my and my partners’ money,” he said. “I was very upset.”

But at the behest of a lawyer on the scene, Fateh and another bidder teamed up. The result:  they ended up with real estate worth $53 million that sold, a year later, for nearly double.

“We realized this was a real business we could succeed in,” he said. When Dupont Fabros went as far as it could as a private entity, Fateh decided to go public – another well-timed decision.

“It’s a good thing we did go public,” Fateh said, because four of his lenders ended up going bankrupt, making the cash raised by the IPO more critical.

The Maxon lectureship was established through Dorothy Maxon’s endowment gift to GWSB in honor of her husband, Robert P. Maxon, BA, ’48. Maxon served his country in WWII and went on to hold several executive positions for Mobil, retiring as general manager of worldwide corporate public relations.

The annual lecture features prominent executives and academics making presentations on contemporary global management issues.

Dean Doug Guthrie

Dean Doug Guthrie has been named GW’s vice president for China operations. University President Steven Knapp and Provost Steven Lerman announced the appointment on April 19.

The position leading the university’s strategy in China is in addition to Guthrie’s roles as GWSB dean and professor of international business and management.

“Dean Guthrie is uniquely qualified to lead the development of GW’s presence in China and to ensure that our activities there are fully consistent with our educational mission, our academic values and our strategic priorities,” Knapp said.

Guthrie is fluent in Mandarin, an expert in the field of economic reform in China, and conducted his doctoral research in Shanghai. In his new role, he will coordinate GW’s major activities, initiatives and programs in China, making recommendations to Knapp and Lerman.

Guthrie “has been very effective in extending the global reach of his school, and I am grateful for his willingness to take on this new role on behalf of the university as a whole,” Knapp said.

China, a global economic and political player of increasing influence, has been identified by GW in its strategic plan as a priority area for research and teaching.

“How we build out our operations in China will be a crucial part of the university’s strategy for years to come,” said Guthrie.

GW has made numerous strides in developing China initiatives.

Last year, GW signed an agreement with Suzhou Industrial Park in Jiangsu, China, to offer advanced degrees to Chinese students. GWSB offers Master of Science in Finance (MSF) and International Master of Accountancy programs jointly with Renmin University of China International College in Beijing.

Meanwhile, a three-week GW China Career Immersion Program – to be offered twice a year during Chinese students’ summer and winter breaks – kicked off in January.  Chinese students visited the nation’s capital, went to a Washington Wizards’ game, and attended seminars at GWSB on career preparation and political, economic, business and cultural issues.

More China exchanges are in the works.

GW has announced it will serve as the education partner for the 2013 Fortune Global Forum in June, sending a delegation to the three-day gathering in Chengdu, China, that brings together business leaders from around the world. Last week, GW’s Columbian College of Arts and Sciences announced the launch of its Confucius Institute in collaboration with Nanjing University, one of the oldest universities in China.

April 19, 2013

For more information about the George Washington University School of Business, visit: http://business.gwu.edu

-GW-

April 14, 2013

Nearman wrote sports for the Washington Post, Washington Times and other media outlets. His next coffee-table book in production highlights the 41-year history of the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler in Washington, D.C.

Abigail Hopper

What:  Abigail R. Hopper, chief energy advisor to Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and acting director of the Maryland Energy Administration, will deliver a presentation to Michael Curley’s “Worldwide Energy Challenges” class.  Curley is visiting assistant professor of strategic management and public policy.

When:  4:30 p.m., April 15.

Hopper will discuss how Maryland is moving from fossil fuels to renewables and will elaborate on the U.S. government’s efforts to do likewise. She will discuss the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), which is a carbon cap-and-trade program that Maryland and 8 other mid-Atlantic and northeastern states operate, and will speak to the state’s offshore wind project, projected to produce 500 megawatts of power from windmills in the Atlantic Ocean.

Questions and RSVPs should be sent to mcurley@gwu.edu.